Thousands lost jobs as sweeping cuts reshape public health, leaving experts and lawmakers scrambling
From experts in mine safety to smoking and infertility – mass layoffs hit branch after branch of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s plan to downsize nearly a quarter of the 82,000-person workforce took effect.
Even as the sprawling nature of layoffs became apparent on Tuesday, a complete accounting was elusive. Layoffs were undertaken with few public details, with even apoplectic congressional lawmakers left in the dark.