Federal health employees stood outside in line for hours Tuesday at the Department of Health and Human Service’s Public Health Division office in Rockville, Maryland, where people waited to scan their badge and learn if they still had a job.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to cut about 10,000 jobs from the agency to save taxpayers money. The exact number of Health and Human Services employees fired Tuesday was unclear.
On Capitol Hill, 16 miles south of the office, some fired HHS employees protested.
Mack Schroeder, who said he was terminated from HHS in February, said he tried to talk to Sen. Jim Banks, R- Ind., but said the senator told him, “You probably deserved it.”
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“Just alarming and off-putting to hear, especially when I mentioned I did programs for people with disabilities,” Schroeder said about his reaction to the senator’s comment. “I’m sure he has a lot of constituents with disabilities in his state.”
In a statement to News4, Banks’ office said, “Truth hurts!” when asked about the interaction.
The HHS employees fired Tuesday worked on issues such as infectious disease, gun violence prevention, birth defects, mine safety, HIV prevention, air quality and tobacco awareness, according to public health experts.
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“We are crippling the very system that’s in place to protect us,” Sharon Gilmartin from Safe States Alliance said.
Health experts nationwide said they’re worried the job cuts could set back medical research by decades.
“In the midst of public health crises like the measles outbreak right now, why attack the very institutions solely focused on our health and wellbeing?” Gilmartin said.
President Donald Trump's administration has promised the cuts will not impact the Food and Drug Administration's inspections, Medicare or Medicaid. The administration claims the job cuts will save about $1.8 billion, less than one-tenth of the department’s total budget.
The Trump administration said it’s getting rid of five out of 10 regional HHS offices, and many other employees told News4 they worry about being fired next.
