HHS Announces Reorganization & Reduction Plans

In  March and April 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a reorganization, including a reduction in force (RIF). HHS reportedly sent RIF notices at 5:00 a.m. on a workday, and employees discovered that the access cards they needed to enter their buildings had been deactivated without warning. Those separated by the RIF were gathered in the entrances to buildings and required to wait for escorts to retrieve their personal belongings. Some aspects of the restructuring plan were subsequently blocked or delayed by litigation and insufficient congressional backing and HHS only finalized many of the terminations in June 2025.