Timeline: Cutbacks at HHS
The layoffs also have a big impact on FOIA staff, which likely means a longer wait for public records
Layoff notices went out this week to some 10,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the cuts March 27 to go along with another 10,000 who took early retirement or voluntary separation offers.
Layoff notices were emailed Tuesday to employees — April Fool’s Day. It was no joke.
We want to give attention to FOIA staff cuts at HHS, as public records are a key component of our Racket Library.
Staff who fulfill public records requests took a huge hit in RFK Jr’s reorganization.
The CDC’s FOIA office was reportedly eliminated, for example. Exactly how many of the 336 full-time FOIA staff members at HHS are affected is unclear. For example, Bloomberg reports all FOIA staff in the FDA were dismissed, while CBS reports it was two-thirds of staff.
Racket asked HHS for a breakdown of FOIA layoffs, but only received a recycled statement about FOIA offices being “siloed.” There was no response to a follow-up question asking for a breakdown, possibly because public information officers are part of the layoffs.
In any case, expect a much longer wait for any public records, says attorney Allan Blutstein of FOIA Advisor:
The records that are of public interest will remain undisclosed, and for longer periods. I suspect what staff remains is likely to be focused on litigation because it’s much easier to ignore a FOIA requester than a plaintiff in court. So unless your request is in litigation, you’ll be likely further back in the processing que and the delays will just intensify.
HHS had 51,800 FOIA requests in 2024, according to FOIA.gov — the fifth-highest of all government agencies. The top five in FOIA requests:
1. Homeland Security: 911,535
2. Dept. of Justice: 132,527
3. Veterans Affairs: 105,725
4. Dept. of Defense: 61,858
5. Health/Human Services: 51,800
Blutstein suspects HHS and other agencies will rely more on outside contractors to fulfill requests.
“I assume they’re cheaper, but in my experience they’re also not as good.”
Children’s Health Defense, an organization Kennedy founded, was a prolific filer of FOIA requests and lawsuits under his leadership, often against HHS agencies.
Under federal FOIA law, the government must respond to FOIA requests within 20 days, excluding weekends and holidays. So, what happens if government agencies fail to respond and fulfill requests within that window because they don’t have staff?
Blutstein says that hasn’t been answered yet, but a federal judge last month addressed the issue in a case that the Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) brought against the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
In a consent motion — which means both parties agree to it — USAID asked for a stay on CASA’s FOIA request and to instead provide a status report in May. The motion notes only three FOIA staff remained at USAID following massive layoffs announced Feb. 23.
“These three employees are now responsible for processing 1002 valid FOIA requests, fifteen open litigations, three appeals, and twelve consultations,” the motion says.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss granted the stay, but strongly indicated he would not have if CASA objected to the request.
In the present context, the Court is skeptical that an agency can avoid its obligations under FOIA—including the obligation to process a request in an efficient and prompt manner— by simply implementing a reduction-in-force…FOIA’s demand for expedition—and, indeed, more generally, FOIA’s requirement that agencies release all non-exempt, responsive records—would be rendered meaningless if an agency could avoid these statutory obligations through the simple expedient of dismissing its FOIA staff.
As for the FOIA staff cutbacks at HHS, an unnamed agency official told CBS that the goal is to have all FOIA staff in a central location, but a final decision has not been made.
Below is a brief timeline of statements leading up to the layoffs, as well as reaction:
February 13, 2025
During his swearing-in ceremony, Kennedy vows to bring “radical transparency” to the department and its agencies. The following exchange starts at 7:13 in the video above:
REPORTER: If I could ask you, Mr. Secretary, do you plan to fire anyone immediately? Or what are your plans on day one, which I guess is today?
SECRETARY KENNEDY: Our plans are radical transparency and returning gold-standard science to NIH, to the FDA, and CDC – to end – ending the corruption, ending the corporate capture of those agencies, getting rid of the people on those panels that have conflicts of interest. We can do unadorned and unimpeded science, rather than the kind of product that is coming out of those agencies today.
March 27, 2025
Kennedy announces that he is cutting 10,000 employees.
In a video posted to X, Kennedy says the Biden administration increased staff by 17% but “all that money has failed to improve the health of Americans.”
He talks of a “sprawling bureaucracy,” and announces his plans “to eliminate an entire alphabet soup of departments at agencies while preserving their core functions….”
A fact sheet breaks down cuts among the FDA, CDC, National Institutes for Health and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services:
FDA: 3,500 full-time employees (HHS says it does not affect drug, medical device, or food reviewers, or inspectors).
CDC: 2,400 employees.
NIH: 1,200 employees.
CMS: 300 employees.
March 28, 2025
Congresswoman Diana DeGette, D-Colorado, the ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee, issues a statement attacking Kennedy and DOGE:
Secretary Kennedy and DOGE’s illegal assault on public health is going to harm the American people, weaken American leadership, and destroy our ability to combat diseases and research groundbreaking cures and treatments. He is circumventing Congressional authority and putting culture wars over science. His actions are going to harm our national biosecurity, stop cures for cancer, and leave everyday Americans unable to access the care they need.
April 1, 2025
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources Thomas Nagy sends early-morning emails to more than 10,000 HHS workers informing them that they will lose their jobs (see example below).
The layoff notices cite an executive order President Trump signed Feb. 11 to implement the DOGE Workforce Optimization Initiative.
Later in the day, Kennedy posts the following on X:
Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders send Kennedy a letter (see below) asking him to appear before their committee to discuss his “proposed reorganization.” The hearing is scheduled for April 10.
April 2, 2025
House Democrats push Republican leaders to have Kennedy appear before the Energy and Commerce Committee. Republicans only agree to a briefing from HHS staff.
ANOTHER ITEM in RACKET LIBRARY RELATED TO THIS TIMELINE
Do Your Own Research: How to File Your Own Freedom of Information Requests
Interview with Allan Blutstein, who helps run a site that explains the ins and outs of filing FOIA requests.
https://www.racket.news/p/do-your-own-research-how-to-file
FOIA is pretty much bullshit anyway. Majority of those thousands of employees were probably busy preventing release.