The HHS has reportedly offered a voluntary separation package to all employees as part of the US president’s crackdown on government spending
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reportedly offered its 80,000 employees a $25,000 voluntary buyout to encourage resignations as part of President Donald Trump’s initiative to reduce the federal workforce.
The health agency emailed its staff on Friday night offering a “voluntary separation incentive payment” aimed at workforce reductions without resorting to forced layoffs, CBS News and NBC News reported Saturday, citing sources. Employees have until March 14 to apply, with departures expected before the end of the fiscal year. Neither the White House nor HHS has responded to media requests for comment.
HHS oversees several major health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and others. The reported buyout offer follows a wave of recent job cuts across the agency. Thousands of probationary HHS workers – those employed for less than a year – were reportedly informed last month that they would be let go. The CDC has also seen significant workforce reductions.
In late February, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hinted at further cuts at his department, saying he had a “generic list” of employees he wanted removed.
The buyout offers are part of Trump’s broader crackdown on government spending and bureaucracy, spearheaded by the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by billionaire Elon Musk. Since its inception shortly after Trump’s inauguration, DOGE has led a sweeping overhaul of federal agencies, slashing jobs, eliminating programs, and restructuring departments.
Last month, DOGE announced that the Inter-American Foundation, a US foreign aid agency, had been downsized to just one employee, the minimum required for operation. It also targeted USAID, Washington’s primary mechanism for funding political projects abroad, laying off 2,000 employees and placing most of the remaining staff on leave.
