Latest news with #RIF
Politico
a day ago
- Politics
- Politico
VOA's final reckoning
Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond. Send tips | Subscribe | Email Sophia | Email Irie | Email Ben The Trump administration today sent out termination notices to hundreds of employees at Voice of America. Included in that group are employees working for the network's Persian-language service who were called back from administrative leave just last week in the wake of Israel's attack on Iran, according to two people familiar with the decision. Today's move — which makes official what has long been expected since hundreds of contract employees got termination notices in early May — is the latest step in the Trump administration's sweeping agenda to downsize the federal government, tamp down on the press and remake America's role in the global order. Critics of the administration's focus on VOA have said that the network has played a vital role in combatting disinformation abroad. But the administration says these cuts are in service of 'cutting waste' and putting 'American taxpayers first.' 'Today, we took decisive action to effectuate President Trump's agenda to shrink the out-of-control federal bureaucracy,' senior presidential adviser KARI LAKE said in a statement. The action eliminates 1,400 jobs, roughly an 85 percent cut to the workforce. The last day on payroll for the employees will be Labor Day. Those affected by today's cuts who are not eligible for mandatory retirement, are being terminated without severance pay — contradicting VOA's parent agency, the U.S. Agency for Global Media's policy on severance, according to one of the people. 'As our legal team fight[s] for our rights under the law, we call on Congress to continue its long tradition of bipartisan support for VOA,' the named plaintiffs in VOA's lawsuit against the Trump administration said in a statement. 'Moscow, Beijing, Tehran and extremist groups are flooding the global information space with anti-American propaganda. Do not cede this ground by silencing America's voice.' All of the lead plaintiffs — former White House bureau chief PATSY WIDAKUSWARA, former press freedom editor JESSICA JERREAT and former director of strategy and performance assessment KATE NEEPER — received their RIF notices today. Lake said in her statement that 250 employees will remain across VOA, the the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and their parent company, USAGM. She noted that none of the OCB's 33 employees were terminated. The government-funded network, which was founded 80 years ago to combat Nazi disinformation during World War II, has — largely unsuccessfully — fought the administration's decision in court. The administration has sent RIF notices to employees in small batches for weeks. But today's notice could deliver the coup de grâce for VOA. MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at westwingtips@ Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe! POTUS PUZZLER Who was the first president to have a phone installed in the White House? (Answer at bottom.) Agenda Setting GET OUTTA HERE: The Trump administration has put new restrictions on members of Congress' access to immigration enforcement field offices after several Democratic lawmakers were refused access or even arrested, Reuters' JONATHAN ALLEN reports. New DHS guidelines also say ICE has sole power over whether to deny or cancel a tour of a detention center by a member of Congress. Federal law prohibits DHS from preventing members of Congress from entering any facility 'used to detain or otherwise house aliens,' and lawmakers do not have to give DHS prior notice of a planned visit. But the new guidelines say that the law does not apply to ICE field offices, although immigrants are often detained at ICE field offices before being transferred to an ICE jail. TIME TO MERGE: The Trump administration is considering whether to transfer some programs from USDA's Rural Development agency to the Small Business Administration, according to documents obtained by our MARCIA BROWN. SBA staff have drafted an executive order for President DONALD TRUMP, which would give SBA control over three programs in the Rural Business Cooperative Service, which offers grants, loan guarantees and other capital products. However, USDA officials have pushed back on the proposal in a briefing memo meant for Agriculture Secretary BROOKE ROLLINS, arguing that SBA is not equipped to handle those programs and that it would detract from the administration's priorities. (WILD)FIRE AT WILL: The Trump administration's changes to federal wildfire response have left public health, meteorology, forest management and disaster experts concerned that the nation's wildfire defenses will be decimated, our ZACK COLMAN reports. In an executive order, Trump moved to consolidate federal firefighting personnel and ramp up the use of AI and other technologies to identify and respond to wildfires. He's also looking for state and local officials to take more responsibility for wildfire response. The administration is 'doubling down on a failed approach,' said DAVE CALKIN, who served 25 years in the U.S. Forest Service before leaving in April through the deferred resignation program. 'This approach is incredibly hard on the firefighters,' he said. 'The firefighters are not well.' WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT THE PLANS FOR EPA: The EPA has laid out more details on Trump's fiscal blueprint to slash the agency's funding, gut environmental justice efforts and downsize its workforce, our KEVIN BOGARDUS reports. The agency's 736-page justification to Congress for the fiscal 2026 plan was posted online recently. EPA's environmental justice work, designed to aid underserved communities struggling with pollution, would be axed. Zero dollars nor personnel are allocated to community grants, technical assistance and coordination with the Superfund program for that work. Musk Radar BACK TO THE BASICS: ELON MUSK, who has been relatively quiet on his social media platform X in recent weeks, did not mince words about top Trump adviser SERGIO GOR both Thursday and today. Musk on Thursday called Gor — who played a role in his split with the president — a 'snake,' our GISELLE RUHIYYIH EWING reports. And this afternoon, Musk said that Gor is 'breaking the law,' referring to a New York Post story from this week that found Gor did not turn in his Standard Form 86, a questionnaire of more than 100 pages required for officials who need security clearances. In the Courts MORE ON USAGM: A federal judge today ordered USAGM to pay the money it owes to Open Technology Fund, a tech nonprofit promoting global internet freedom, for the rest of the fiscal year, our ANTHONY ADRAGNA reports. Judge ROYCE LAMBERTH of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, ordered the agency, and Lake, to immediately dispense more than $2 million in funds appropriated by Congress to OTF and to pay out another $2 million through the rest of fiscal 2025. What We're Reading Seeking Jobs and Purpose, Fired Federal Workers Form New Networks (NYT's Eileen Sullivan) White House floats a new funding trick — and GOP lawmakers grimace (POLITICO's Jennifer Scholtes) A former DOGE employee gives his account of working for the operation (NPR's Bobby Allyn) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER In 1877, former President RUTHERFORD B. HAYES had the first telephone installed in the telegraph room in what was then known as the Executive Mansion, our ANDY GLASS reported in 2017. While Hayes embraced the new technology, few people called him. The phone, whose number was '1,' initially could only be reached by the Treasury Department. Fifty years later, HERBERT HOOVER had the first phone line installed at his desk in the Oval Office. Former President BARACK OBAMA recounted Hayes' thoughts on the invention in 2012: 'It's a great invention but who would ever want to use one?'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Hundreds of CDC workers are reinstated but majority of fired public health staffers left in limbo
Supporters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrate outside the center's entrance in Atlanta during a rally in April. These rallies have happened weekly since the mass layoffs first started at the CDC in February. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder Fired workers of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and their supporters are pushing for more public health jobs to be restored after a portion of the center's terminated workforce was reinstated this week. Many of the more than 460 workers reinstated are assigned to the National Center for Environmental Health or the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention, according to the Associated Press. U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to slash 10,000 jobs in late March, including 2,400 jobs at the CDC. The reinstated workers received a two-paragraph memorandum Wednesday from Tom Nagy, chief human capital officer with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that said they were no longer part of the previously announced reduction in force, according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Georgia Recorder. 'You will not be affected by the upcoming RIF,' the memo says. Emily G. Hilliard, press secretary for the federal agency, did not respond to specific questions about the number of jobs reinstated or which CDC programs were targeted. 'Under Secretary Kennedy's leadership, the nation's critical public health functions remain intact and effective,' Hilliard said in a statement Thursday. 'The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services—whether it's supporting coal miners and firefighters through NIOSH, safeguarding public health through lead prevention, or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases.' Sarah Boim, a former communication specialist at the CDC who is a leader of the group Fired But Fighting, said some of the reinstated staffers were already back at work Thursday. Boim said the restored jobs are not enough, but she said she is skeptical that more people will be brought back since the newly reinstated group represents about 20% of the job losses at the CDC – which would mirror what Kennedy said earlier would need to be reversed because of 'mistakes' made by the Department of Government Efficiency. Lawsuits challenging the terminations at the CDC and other federal agencies are also working their way through the courts. Boim said the saga has left laboratory scientists and others sidelined from their work while collecting administrative pay. 'It's mind boggling — the level of inefficiency and chaos that this whole process has sown,' she said. 'I would like people to know that their money was going to pay for people with critical jobs to not do their jobs.' Georgia Democrats who have pressed for the Trump administration to reverse course on the CDC cuts cheered the news Thursday but pressed for more fired CDC workers to be brought back. 'The rehiring of hundreds of dedicated health workers, many of whom call Georgia home, is welcome news for those of us who believe that public health is vital to our wellbeing and safety — not a political game,' U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock said in a statement. Warnock participated in a rally outside the CDC in April. Those rallies have been held every week since the mass layoffs started in February, with one held Tuesday despite the rain after Kennedy fired members of a key vaccine panel. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
HHS reinstates more than 450 CDC employees fired in April reorganization, including childhood lead poisoning team
The US Department of Health and Human Services is reinstating more than 450 employees at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who were fired as part of a massive reorganization in April, including workers focused on HIV and childhood lead exposure. More than 200 employees had their firings rescinded at the CDC's National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention, along with 158 at the National Center for Environmental Health, an HHS spokesperson confirmed. Another 71 were brought back in the Office of the Director and two dozen more at the Global Health Center. The reinstatements represent almost 20% of the 2,400 CDC employees who HHS said it was dismissing in a mass Reduction in Force, or RIF, in April. The cuts also affected employees across the US Food and Drug Administration, the US National Institutes of Health and the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but an HHS spokesperson said Wednesday's reinstatements applied only to employees at the CDC. 'Under Secretary Kennedy's leadership, the nation's critical public health functions remain intact and effective,' HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a statement. 'The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services – whether it's supporting coal miners and firefighters through NIOSH, safeguarding public health through lead prevention, or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases. 'HHS is streamlining operations without compromising mission-critical work,' he continued. 'Enhancing the health and well-being of all Americans remains our top priority.' Fox News earlier reported the reinstatements. The cuts had wiped out the CDC's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch as it was in the midst of helping the city of Milwaukee address a lead exposure crisis in its public schools. The firings meant the CDC had to deny a request from the city for specialists to help. US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was repeatedly pressed by reporters and lawmakers over the situation, and he said he didn't intend to eliminate the branch. On Wednesday, the entire lead team was rehired, along with its parent group, the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice, according to its newly reinstated director, Dr. Erik Svendsen. 'You previously received a notice regarding the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) upcoming reduction in force (RIF),' read an email to reinstated employees, obtained by CNN, who had been put on administrative leave since the notice of their dismissal. 'That notice is hereby revoked. You will not be affected by the upcoming RIF.'
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
HHS staffers sue over ‘hopelessly error-ridden' layoffs
This story was originally published on Healthcare Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Healthcare Dive newsletter. Fired HHS employees are suing the Trump administration for illegally terminating thousands of employees in the federal health department's spring restructuring based on incorrect records. Seven affected staffers filed the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, Tuesday in a D.C. district court against the HHS, the Department of Government Efficiency and other agencies and top leaders in the Trump administration. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages for HHS employees who were let go with termination notices that contained errors. Lawyers estimate that most of the roughly 10,000 employees who were fired during the April reduction-in-force, or RIF, would be members of the class. The HHS began notifying employees that they would be laid off on April 1 as part of a departmental restructuring, amid the Trump administration's larger push to drastically reduce the federal workforce. The process was quickly dogged with questions about its legitimacy, with many affected staffers noting that termination notices included incorrect performance scores, office names and other information. Healthcare Dive has reported extensively on the potential illegality of the RIF, including paperwork issues, the closure of congressionally mandated offices and inconsistencies with how the Trump administration decided which employees to terminate. Now, a group of terminated HHS staffers are suing over the 'hopelessly error-ridden' personnel records that were used to underpin the cuts. Performance ratings, which range from 1 to 5 and are assigned to federal staff to appraise their performance, were frequently wrong on RIF notices, the workers allege in their suit. In addition, employees' paperwork had seemingly random codes determining their eligibility for the RIF, and informed them that their entire division was being terminated when it wasn't. Such errors are a major point of concern, given that data affects whether a specific employee should have been caught up in a RIF, their severance pay and the availability of stopgap healthcare coverage — and can affect future career prospects. HHS' actions violated the Privacy Act, which gives individuals recourse if an agency acts on the basis of inaccurate personnel records, according to the suit. An HHS spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation. However, the agency in the past has blamed siloed and disorganized recordkeeping for discrepancies in RIF paperwork. 'It is, of course, little solace to these Plaintiffs that they were fired because of 'siloed' recordkeeping. Nor is it any comfort to know that many of them had been fired by 'mistake,'' the lawsuit reads. 'For these Plaintiffs, HHS's intentional failure to maintain complete and accurate records before making life-changing employment decisions was a clear violation of the law.' HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly acknowledged that mistakes were made during the restructuring due to the agency's desire to move quickly, and pledged to reinstate staff who were improperly let go. The HHS has since rescinded RIF notices for hundreds of employees. However, the secretary has brushed off ongoing concerns about the cuts and failed to provide a comprehensive accounting of the layoffs. 'Because the decisionmakers at these agencies were working with such flawed data, they barely knew who they were cutting,' Clayton Bailey, a lawyer at the Civil Service Law Center, which is bringing the suit, said in a statement. 'These employees suffered the consequences.' The RIF was supposed to go into effect early June. However, the firings were paused after a California federal judge issued an injunction in a separate lawsuit over the administration slashing the federal workforce without Congress' say-so. A group of states are also suing the Trump administration seeking to undo the HHS cuts, arguing the department's critical health work has been stymied as a result of the restructuring. Many affected workers remain on administrative leave. Recommended Reading HHS layoffs may be illegal, legal experts say
Politico
04-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
Health RIFs under fire
Presented by Driving The Day NEW FILING ON FIRINGS — Fired HHS employees allege in a new lawsuit that DOGE used personnel records that were 'hopelessly error-ridden' and contained 'systemic inaccuracies' when deciding who to let go amid the agency's mass reorganization, POLITICO's Daniel Barnes and Lauren Gardner report. Those errors included incorrect performance ratings, job locations and job descriptions, according to the lawsuit filed in Washington federal court Tuesday by seven terminated employees. HHS has previously blamed the incorrect data on the agency's 'multiple, siloed HR division.' Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has acknowledged mistakes were made during the cuts and that some employees will be reinstated. 'It is, of course, little solace to these plaintiffs that they were fired because of 'siloed' recordkeeping,' lawyers Clayton Bailey and Jessica Samuels write in the lawsuit. 'Nor is it any comfort to know that many of them had been fired by 'mistake.' For these plaintiffs, HHS's intentional failure to maintain complete and accurate records before making life-changing employment decisions was a clear violation of the law.' HHS declined to comment. Why it matters: The new lawsuit comes as questions remain over President Donald Trump's ability to order widespread cuts at multiple government agencies. HHS has paused action on the reduction in force amid separate litigation. POLITICO previously detailed some errors HHS employees saw in their RIF notices, mistakes that could affect terminated employees' ability to receive appropriate compensation for their years of federal service and to access stopgap health care. Key context: The lawsuit also claims that the HHS layoffs were driven by a 'deep-seated animus toward federal workers.' 'Politics aside, this is no way to treat civil servants who have dedicated their careers to public health and safety,' Samuels said in a news release. 'These employees are entitled to some basic level of respect and fairness, just like anyone else.' The plaintiffs seek unspecified monetary damages for all HHS employees who were terminated on April 1 and whose RIF notice contained incorrect information. The exact number of terminated employees that would fall into that class isn't immediately clear, but the lawsuit estimates it to be most of the 10,000 employees subject to the April 1 RIF. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE. Senate Republicans plan to meet today to talk through their plans and priorities for the 'big, beautiful' bill. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@ and follow along @Kelhoops. Abortion STRIPPING EMERGENCY GUIDANCE — The Trump administration rescinded on Tuesday Biden-era guidance that assured health care providers are protected by a federal law when performing abortions in emergency cases, regardless of state bans on the procedure. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the change, saying the guidance — issued in July 2022 — doesn't reflect the policy of the Trump administration. The agency said it would continue to enforce the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, the federal law that mandates all patients have access to care at hospital emergency departments. 'CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration's actions,' the agency said in a statement. Why it matters: Project 2025, a set of policy positions published by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, encouraged the Trump administration to rescind the guidance and also called on President Donald Trump to end all the Biden administration's EMTALA investigations into hospitals that have turned pregnant patients away. In March, the Trump administration dropped a yearslong legal battle with Idaho over the right to an abortion in a medical emergency. Abortion-rights advocates argue that ambiguous language in state bans impedes access to emergency abortion care because doctors fear their interventions might be considered abortions in violation of the state law. Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, some women have died after being unable to access legal emergency abortion care in their states. 'The Trump administration cannot simply erase four decades of law protecting patients' lives with the stroke of a pen,' Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, deputy director of the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, said in a news release. 'Regardless of where they live, pregnant patients have a right to emergency abortion care that will save their health or lives.' At the Agencies FDA STAFF WARY — Top FDA officials are touting the agency-wide launch of a general-purpose chatbot aimed at boosting the performance of every employee — but FDA staff isn't so sure about the change, POLITICO's Ruth Reader reports. FDA chief AI officer Jeremy Walsh and Commissioner Marty Makary are framing the new chatbot, Elsa, as the beginning of an artificial intelligence-driven transformation that will accelerate drug and device reviews. But two current and two former agency employees told POLITICO the bot is at best an advanced search engine and prone to mistakes. It's a long way from speeding up drug and device reviews, they said. 'We have no evidence that it actually shortens anything. We have no evidence that it does any of the things that they say it does,' one of the two current staffers granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal matters told POLITICO. Background: Elsa is based on a general-use chatbot that was originally developed by the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The bot was designed to help staff draft emails, brainstorm ideas and quickly summarize articles. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told POLITICO that synthesizing and summarizing data will cut down on the time it takes to review the devices and drugs that need FDA approval. The agency plan to roll out the tool across the agency over a week in April was disrupted when the Trump administration downsized the FDA and laid off top tech staff, then brought in personnel to lead AI efforts, according to the current and former staff members with knowledge of the plans. The FDA staffers said Trump's new hires have tried to seize on the agency's preexisting efforts to test AI tools by putting all of them into Elsa. In Congress SUPPORT ACT VOTE — The House faces a contentious vote Wednesday to reauthorize landmark anti-opioid legislation, with many Democrats planning to oppose a bill even though they agree with what's in it, POLITICO's Carmen Paun reports. The SUPPORT Act would renew billions in funding to fight opioid abuse, especially synthetic fentanyl, which claims tens of thousands of American lives annually. The House passed the original SUPPORT Act by a vote of 393-8 in 2018 before President Donald Trump signed it into law. The law expired nearly two years ago, during Joe Biden's presidency, but Congress has continued to provide funding for its programs. Democrats who plan to vote no say it's because they oppose the Trump administration's funding cuts for substance use disorder and mental health and its plan to reorganize the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Republicans likely will support it unanimously, or nearly so, and the bill is likely to pass. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), the bill's sponsor and chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, says SAMHSA staff cuts haven't affected SUPPORT Act programs, and he'll fight for the programs' continuation. A spokesperson for Guthrie did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Why it matters: The Democrats' reluctance to support legislation they agree with shows how much the cuts by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, led until recently by Elon Musk, are hindering Congress from advancing bipartisan health care policy. If the House passes the bill, it moves to the Senate, where the health panel hasn't yet considered it, though Guthrie said Tuesday, '[T]he Senate is ready to act. MUSK SPEAKS OUT — Elon Musk ruffled some Republican feathers on Tuesday, taking to his social platform X to torch the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill.' The former head of President Donald Trump's DOGE slammed the reconciliation package as a 'disgusting abomination.' 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore,' Musk wrote. 'This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.' House Speaker Mike Johnson said Musk was 'terribly wrong.' 'With all due respect, my friend Elon is terribly wrong about the 'one big, beautiful bill,'' Johnson told reporters. Johnson said he spoke over the phone with the former DOGE chief for what he described as a friendly conversation of more than 20 minutes Monday about the 'virtues' of the bill. 'And he seemed to understand that,' Johnson added. Names in the News Lexi Branson has returned to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as vice president for health policy. Before Branson's most recent role as deputy vice president of advocacy and strategic alliances at PhRMA, she spent nearly six years at the U.S. Chamber. Marni Gootzit has joined Medicaid Health Plans of America as vice president of communications. She previously served as senior public relations strategist at marketing for Change Co. WHAT WE'RE READING STAT's Simar Bajaj reports on how countries worldwide might adapt to the Trump administration's drastic cuts to HIV/AIDS funding. POLITICO's Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report on a federal judge ordering the Trump administration to maintain gender-affirming care for transgender inmates.
