Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has indicated the agency may have erroneously terminated thousands of employees—what would be the latest error in the mass layoffs spearheaded by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency that may require thousands to be rehired.
Kennedy predicted about 20% of the 10,000 health workers laid off Monday (or approximately 2,000 employees) would be reinstated, telling reporters “personnel that should not have been cut, were cut . . . we’ll make mistakes,” pointing to the termination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch as one of the possible errors.
The Department of Agriculture said in February it mistakenly fired “several” employees working on the federal government’s response to the bird flu outbreak that caused egg prices to spike; prior to the admission, Politico reported about 25% of the USDA’s National Animal Health Laboratory Network were laid off (approximately 4 employees).
The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees nuclear weapons management, reinstated the majority of the more than 300 employees it terminated, after some congressional backlash to the firings, CNN reported, citing four unnamed sources familiar with the layoffs (approximately 275 employees).
About a dozen fired staffers at the Veterans Crisis Hotline, which counsels former service members experiencing personal distress including thoughts of suicide, were asked to return to their jobs, according to CNN, while the agency told the Federal News Network it “mistakenly rescinded” job offers for some new positions “due to an administrative error” (approximately 12 employees).
The Department of Education rescinded termination notices it sent to about 50 workers in the tech department at the Federal Student Aid office, Inside Higher Ed reported, citing unnamed sources—a reverse course that came after the federal student aid application portal briefly went offline a day after the education department announced plans to cut its workforce in half, though an agency spokesperson told USA Today the website disruption was not linked to the layoffs (approximately 50 employees).
The Food and Drug Administration planned to ask nearly one-third of the more than 1,000 staffers it fired to return to the agency, including at least 11 employees at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health that reviews medical devices, Reuters reported in February, citing four unnamed sources (approximately 300 employees).
The Bonneville Power Administration, a division of the Department of Energy that sells hydroelectricity sourced from federal dams in the Pacific Northwest, rehired about 124 employees terminated as part of a plan to cut more than 400, Oregon Public Radio reported (approximately 124 employees).
Federal judges ordered the Trump administration to rehire or place on administrative leave tens of thousands of terminated probationary employees—generally those who have been on the job less than one year—across 18 federal agencies, including 555 employees at the Department of Energy, 791 at the Commerce Department, 3,248 in the Health and Human Services Department, 1,712 in the Interior Department and 7,613 Treasury Department employees, according to court records, though the cases are still pending and the Trump administration has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court (approximately 24,000 employees).
Kennedy on Monday began a mass restructuring at the health department that included laying off some divisions entirely and reassigning and terminating multiple high-ranking leaders, including those who oversee efforts to prevent HIV and infectious diseases and tobacco policy. Some senior HHS officials, including Jeanne Marrazzo, who succeeded Anthony Fauci as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, were reportedly asked to decide on reassignments to remote locations, such as Alaska or Oklahoma, within less than 48 hours of being notified. Multiple divisions at the CDC and FDA were affected by the cuts.
280,253, according to a report by the career services firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas that found DOGE actions have led to layoffs of contractors and workers across 27 agencies.
Layoffs nationwide spiked 60% in March, largely a result of the DOGE cuts, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported. Of the more than 275,000 jobs eliminated last month, 216,670 cuts, 79%, were made as a result of DOGE actions.
The Tesla CEO, who has faced criticism that his slash-and-burn approach to remaking the federal workforce has been chaotic and cavalier, has acknowledged the errors, attributing them to the pace of DOGE’s work. “We are moving fast, so we will make mistakes, but we’ll also fix the mistakes very quickly,” he told reporters from an Oval Office press conference alongside Trump last month.
The DOGE cuts have led to backlash even from some Republican lawmakers who have aired concerns that Musk has gone about the cuts in an insensitive and disorganized nature. In some cases, agencies attempting to rehire employees have said they’ve had trouble getting in touch with the terminated personnel, because their email access was cut off. Democrats running in special elections have made Musk’s slashing of the federal workforce a key campaign talking point, raising alarms within the GOP that the strategy might be working after Republicans won two Florida elections by slimmer-than-expected margins and a Democrat won a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin. Musk’s America PAC put money behind the Republicans in all three races. Trump has also suggested Musk’s days at the White House might be numbered, telling reporters earlier this week he would “keep [Musk]
Is Musk On His Way Out? Trump Has Reportedly Said So—Here’s What We Know (Forbes)
These Federal Staffers Will Be Rehired As Appeals Court Rules Against Trump Administration’s Mass Firings (Forbes)
Kennedy Fires Thousands Across Health Agencies: Food Regulation, HIV Prevention, Infectious Disease Offices All Affected (Forbes)
