Federal health, research firings draw alarm: ‘Every American should be outraged’

President Trump’s administration has been cutting positions across the federal workforce, and firings in government health and research agencies are stirring some of the most anger and alarm.

The American Public Health Association issued a statement Friday decrying the cuts to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The association has started a new initiative, dubbed For Our Health, focusing on health policies.

“Every American should be outraged and alarmed by actions taken by the Trump administration that deliberately undermine America's health protection system, including HHS, CDC and the NIH,” the group said. “By gutting essential health staff, hiding vital public health data, and silencing health experts, these actions have left every American family more vulnerable to deadly disease outbreaks, unsafe food and water, and preventable deaths.”

The group notes the cuts at research and health agencies come at a particularly troubling time, with flu cases at the highest level in years and the increased risk of avian influenza.

“When our health watchdogs can't track outbreaks or warn doctors and the public about health risks, the safety of every American is compromised,” the association said.

The Association of American Medical Colleges also denounced firings at the health department. The AAMC urged Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the new HHS secretary, to reconsider the job cuts.

David J. Skorton, president and CEO of the AAMC, and Danielle Turnipseed, the chief public policy officer, said in a joint statement this week that they were “deeply dismayed to hear reports of broad and, what appear to be, arbitrary firings across many federal agencies and offices directly related to and responsible for the public’s health.”

“Without the expertise of these public servants, the health of the public and future scientific progress will be in serious jeopardy,” they said.

It’s unclear how many jobs have been cut at the research agencies. More than 1,000 staff at the NIH have received notices that they are losing their jobs, NPR reported earlier this week. The Associated Press reported that several hundred workers were fired at the CDC.

Several former leaders of health agencies in the government, including those who served in the Biden administration, denounced the firings. Those speaking out include Monica Bertagnolli, MD, former NIH director, and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The former agency heads said in the joint statement, “The Trump Administration now has begun arbitrarily removing HHS staff from their positions, leaving no doubt that the health and well-being of families and communities across the country will suffer as a result. The work of the members of the HHS team is not just important to the health of this country, it is also vital to the economic security of our nation.”

Among those who have been ousted is Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, the first director of the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health, also dubbed ARPA-H. Former President Biden created the agency to focus on bold, cutting edge research to generate breakthroughs in cancer and other diseases.

In a post on LinkedIn, Wegrzyn said she is proud to see the agency become “a powerhouse of biomedical innovation.”

“While this chapter closes, I remain incredibly grateful for the extraordinary privilege of working alongside visionary ARPA-Humans to pursue what once seemed impossible: redefining how we tackle human health and accelerating breakthroughs to improve lives,” she wrote in her post.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides health services for millions of veterans, said it dismissed more than 1,000 probationary employees this month. The VA said the terminations would save $98 million and said those in mission critical positions weren’t affected.

A group of 35 Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., urged the VA Secretary Doug Collins to reverse course on the firings.

“Not only will this latest action put veterans’ care and benefits at risk, but it further confuses, demoralizes, and threatens a VA workforce we need to fulfill our nation’s sacred promise to our veterans and their families who have already sacrificed so much,” Blumenthal and the senators wrote in a letter to the VA secretary.

Healthcare leaders and academic institutions are still seething over the NIH’s announcement this month that it is cutting funding for "indirect" or overhead costs of research.

The agency said the move would save $4 billion annually. The NIH said it wants to ensure research funds are going to the laboratory, but universities and medical schools said the cuts will hamper research and lead to job cuts.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the NIH cuts from taking effect, after 22 states filed a legal challenge. The AAMC and other groups filed suit to prevent the cuts.

The AAMC said funding for indirect costs is necessary to cover legitimate expenses such as lab operations, data processing, security and other costs.

Research advocates and lawmakers critical of the NIH cuts say they will cause economic damage to cities and states across the country, in both red and blue regions.