A guide to staff reductions FDA has already experienced – and those coming soon

Event

Explanation

Voluntary deferred resignation

In an offer first tendered in the Jan. 28 “ Fork in the Road” notice issued by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the government offered employees the chance to resign from government service and be paid through Sept. 30, 2025, the end of the fiscal year, with no expectation of meeting return-to-office requirements. Employees electing deferred resignation “should promptly have their duties re-assigned or eliminated and be placed on paid administrative leave,” according to guidance issued by OPM.

Impact: Thus far the now-closed offer has resulted in the voluntary resignation of fewer than 3 percent of federal employees, or about half the number who quit or retire annually. Voluntary resignation figures for the FDA are not currently available.

Key Dates: Effort ended Feb. 12, 2025.

Termination of FDA staff aligned with diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) work.

All agencies, including the FDA, have been directed by OPM to terminate employees and offices focused on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) by late March 2025, pursuant to an executive order.

Impact: While we don’t have exact numbers, our estimate is that a few dozen FDA staff will be affected across all of FDA. The webpage for the agency’s Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE) was taken down (see an archived version here), but it’s currently not clear what happened to its staff.

Key Dates: Plan to terminate DEIA staff were due to OPM “no later than January 1, 2025,” and full reduction-in-force (RIF) of these staff should take place by March 21, 2025.

Termination of select staff in probationary employment terms.

In January 2025, OPM issued a memo to federal agencies asking them to identify all employees on “probationary periods,” or those personnel who have only been in the competitive service for less than a year of service, or in the general service of government less than two years. Such employees are far easier to terminate because they do not enjoy the same job protections.

Impact: On February 15, the FDA began notifying select probationary employees that they had been terminated effective March 15. Reports indicate around at least 700 staff were originally terminated, although after pushback from industry (especially against termination of staff conducting user fee-funded activities) some staff terminations have reportedly been reversed. It’s not yet clear if these cuts will be the only ones to affect probationary staff, whose employment may be terminated with few appeal rights at any point while on probationary status.

Key Dates: Lists of staff on probationary periods were due to OPM by January 24, 2025.

Return to office mandate

OPM has ordered employees to work in-office, which for the FDA means that all leaders within 50 miles of FDA’s headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland will need to return to full-time in-office work by February 24, and all other employees aligned to headquarters by March 17. Employees outside that range will have until April 28 to report to their nearest FDA duty station, POLITICO has reported.

Impact: The order could prompt some FDA staff to leave federal employment rather than return to in-office work, especially if they live outside of the commutable bounds of eligible federal offices. This could have a significant impact on some of FDA’s more highly specialized staff who were hired to be remote employees. The order is also set to be enforced soon, ELON MUSK said in a statement.

Key Dates: The first round of return-to-office (RTO) began February 24, 2025; at that time, agency heads were directed to revise their telework policies and lay out expectations for compliance. The second round of RTO policy for staff not in leadership positions becomes effective March 17, 2025, and round three for staff outside the D.C. area becomes effective April 28, 2025.

FDA contractors, grants and discretionary spending

DOGE has already ordered the cancellation of some contracts between federal agencies and contractors. The FDA works with a significant number of contractors, and those staff are likely at risk depending on the extent of the government’s contract reviews and subsequent actions.

On Feb. 26, a new executive order put a halt to some agency discretionary spending, and instructed agencies to build a new process for reviewing and paying out contracts and grants. The order directed agency heads to build a “centralized technological system” to record payments made to “covered contracts and grants,” along with a requirement that all payments are accompanied by a (publicly available) justification for the expense. It also directs agency heads to, in coordination with DOGE, build new processes for signing or modifying contracts “to promote Government efficiency.”

The agencies are also instructed to conduct a real estate property review and report, with an eye to identifying opportunities to terminate leases.

Impact: The FDA will likely come under pressure from DOGE and the White House to shed some of its contract staff – especially as it’s being asked to consider large-scale reductions in force. Contracted staff are easier to terminate versus government employees who have various legal protections.

Key dates: The real estate property report is due March 5, 2025, with the report on leases due March 28, 2025 and a federal plan from the Administrator of General Services submitted to OMB by April 27, 2025. The review of agency contracts and grants is due March 28, 2025, and “shall not issue or approve new contracting officer warrants” through that time. A federal credit card freeze remains in effect through Mar. 28, 2025.

Large-scale terminations

An executive order calls on all federal agencies, including the FDA, to “promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force (RIFs), consistent with applicable law, and to separate from Federal service temporary employees and reemployed annuitants working in areas that will likely be subject to the RIFs.” The targets of the terminations would be non-essential staff (which FDA defines in its shutdown plans). It would exempt staff that are involved in issues of “public safety.”

On February 25, OPM sent out guidance to agencies on implementing RIFs in several phases. It directs agency heads to compile Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans (ARRPs). Phase 1 ARRPs should describe how the agency will reduce the size of its staff, using levers such as attrition and performance metrics, and identify which work functions are explicitly statutorily required. Phase 2 ARRPs would include broader plans of reorganizing the agency (see below).

Impact: At present, 77% of FDA staff are considered exempt from a shutdown because they are either deemed necessary (12% of staff) or because they are funded through special mechanisms (like user fees or supplemental funding). That leaves at least 23% of FDA staff that could be affected by large-scale terminations, assuming they weren’t already terminated through another effort. It also assumes that this action wouldn’t terminate staff paid for by user fees, which the terminations of probationary staff already appeared to have done. The “large-scale RIFs” would, by definition, reduce the overall size of the agency, although it’s not entirely clear which divisions would be hardest hit.

Key Dates: Phase 1 ARRPs are due March 13, 2025. Phase 2 ARRPs are due April 14, 2025, and include a plan for large-scale reorganizations of the agency that would be implemented in federal fiscal year 2025 – i.e., September 30, 2025.

Eliminating specific agency divisions

An executive order calls on the FDA and other federal agencies to submit a report to OMB that “identifies any statutes that establish the agency, or subcomponents of the agency, as statutorily required entities.” A required report would then “discuss whether the agency or any of its subcomponents should be eliminated or consolidated.”

These are also the subject of the Phase 2 ARRPs mentioned in OPM’s February 25 guidance. That memo from OPM directs agencies to submit plans for agency restructuring that would group certain functions together, re-align the workforce and prepare for future large-scale RIFs.

Impact: This raises the prospect that entire FDA divisions could be eliminated if Congress has not specifically authorized their existence. FDA recently implemented a reorganization plan that underwent Congressional review, but it’s not clear if these changes had clear statutory authorization.

Key Dates: Phase 1 ARRPs are due March 13, 2025. Phase 2 ARRPs are due April 14, 2025, and include a plan for large-scale reorganizations of the agency that would be implemented in federal fiscal year 2025 – i.e., September 30, 2025.

Voluntary resignations and retirements

Some FDA staff are expected to resign or retire rather than face potential termination or a less favorable working environment.

Impact: Already, the head of FDA’s Human Foods Program, JIM JONES, has resigned. In most years, between 300 and 500 FDA staff retire and between 250 and 500 staff resign, with an overall turnover rate of 4.8 – 6.5%. But a considerable percentage (15.5%) of FDA’s workforce was eligible to retire in 2022, including 30% of all GS-15 staff and 21% of staff in FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Faced with reductions in force, FDA staff who are eligible to do so may choose to retire early.

Key Dates: Ongoing.

HHS-directed cuts

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., who was confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in February, previously wrote on X that he feels the FDA has waged a “war on public health,” and has encouraged staff to “pack your bags.” In an MSNBC interview after the election, Kennedy also said he intends to clear out entire departments within the FDA. “In some categories of workers, there are entire departments like the nutrition departments at FDA, that have to go – that are not doing their job, that are not protecting our kids,” he said. While FDA Commissioner-nominee MARTY MAKARY has not publicly weighed in on FDA staffing, he has frequently taken a dim view of the agency’s expertise and in 2021 in an op-ed published in Fox News publicly called for changeover in FDA leadership. He argued that FDA “needs a change in culture,” adding, “It’s time for our old guard medical leaders to step aside into advisory roles and let new scientists, ones who are not afraid to speak up, take charge.” As AgencyIQ has previously explained, some senior FDA leaders may be targeted for dismissal based on their personal relationships with Kennedy. This might include PETER MARKS, the director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER).

Impact: White House-directed efforts to cut the size of federal government are likely to be encouraged by Kennedy based on these past statements, and FDA staff shouldn’t count on Kennedy or Makary to shield them from some cuts. However, Kennedy may direct those cuts to be made to specific FDA divisions.

Key Dates: Ongoing.

OMB impoundments

The recent confirmation of RUSSEL VOUGHT as OMB director is likely to have a significant impact on FDA staffing and spending authority. Vought served as OMB director during the first Trump administration and is expected to take a hardline approach toward federal rulemaking and rule-makers alike. He quickly moved to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by cutting off all funding for the agency through the “impoundment” process, in which OMB directs that no funding go toward a specific program or agency.

Impact: Impoundment is expected to be used widely by the Trump administration to put a halt to any programs it doesn’t agree with or to gain leverage over any uncooperative government employees. Vought has been quoted as saying he wants federal employees to feel like they’re “ in trauma,” and is otherwise intent on dismantling the administrative state. That could result in cuts that go beyond other efforts named here, as well as other changes that could negatively affect FDA staff morale.

Key Dates: Ongoing.

OMB Attrition Plan

Two executive orders – one related to a hiring freeze, and a second implementing order for the freeze – require that OMB Director Vought submit to the White House a “plan to reduce the size of the Federal Government’s workforce through efficiency improvements and attrition.” The plan, due by April 20, requires that each federal agency “hire no more than one employee for every four employees that depart.” There are some exemptions for “functions related to public safety,” however.

Impact: This order will likely result in further cuts to FDA staffing by way of attrition or delays. If FDA is unable to hire – or if hiring is delayed – that could result in agency positions going unfilled, thereby negatively affecting medical product reviews and inspections.

Key Dates: Plan due by April 20, 2025.

New hire scrutiny

An executive order requires that all FDA career appointment hiring must be made in consultation with the agency’s DOGE team lead. “The agency shall not fill any vacancies for career appointments that the DOGE Team Lead assesses should not be filled, unless the Agency Head determines the positions should be filled,” the order states.

Impact: This order will likely result in delays to FDA’s ability to hire. If FDA is unable to quickly fill positions, then FDA may lose more positions to attrition than it is able to replace, leaving key roles unfilled – and that’s if employees are willing to join federal service.

Key Dates: Ongoing.

Federal budget cuts

Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, are currently working on a new Federal budget bill to take effect once the current continuing resolution expires at the end of the day on March 14, 2025. Right now, the Senate and House are figuring out the scope of their budget blueprint and the extent to which they expect to cut federal expenditures. The size of the budget cuts targeted in the most recent House budget resolution make it clear that massive cuts to FDA resources are likely coming soon. The House Energy and Commerce Committee, the committee charged with FDA oversight, has been tasked with finding more than $880 billion in cuts over the next 10 years.

Impact: Cuts to FDA’s budget would almost certainly result in cuts to agency staff and contractors, although the full impact of the cuts could be offset by industry-paid user fees, which currently make up a little less than half of all agency funding.

Key Dates: Federal funding is currently set to continue through March 14, 2025.

Reclassification of policy staff

OPM is in the process of implementing an executive order that will allow agencies to reclassify federal agency staff in policymaking roles (including FDA staff), thereby making them easier to terminate. The agency has a pending regulation (“Improving Performance, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Civil Service”) that would make an earlier executive order official.

Impact: This rule would make it easier to terminate staff (for cause) if they are in confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating roles, also known as Schedule Policy/Career. It’s not clear how many staff this rule would apply to, it’s likely several hundred based on a review of FDA staff with “policy” in their title.

Key Dates: Rulemaking process began on Feb. 10, 2025.

Performance metrics

OPM has indicated it is working on developing new performance metrics for evaluating the federal workforce and has asked agencies to “submit data regarding their performance management plans and policies . . . and identify any barriers to ensuring that 1) agency performance plans make meaningful distinctions based on relative employee performance and 2) the agency has the ability to swiftly terminate poor performing employees who cannot or will not improve.”

A January 20 executive order, accompanied by guidance from OPM issued February 25, will create new performance metrics specifically for Senior Executive Service (SES) staff. The SES Performance Plan laid out by OPM establishes new criteria for rating SES staff, including “government-wide limits on rating levels” – which run from Level 1 to Level 5 – and “remove” SES personnel based on certain ratings at 2 or below, while limiting the numbers of Level 4 and Level 5 ratings that can be awarded.

Impact: The OPM memo on performance metrics for the federal workforce indicates that the government wants to make it easier for agencies to “swiftly terminate” employees it considers to be underperforming. Agency heads are tasked with conducting a review of performance ratings in the last three years, identifying staff who received “less than a ‘fully successful’ performance rating.” Staff identified in the performance rating reviews may be targeted for dismissal.

The SES Performance Plan follows the same general idea, but specifically for SES staff. At the FDA, SES positions include the bulk of FDA leadership, including Associate and Assistant Commissioners, General Counsel staff, Program Directors, and Deputy Program Directors. See here for a list in the Plum Book; SES is denoted by “ES” in the “Pay Plan” column. The new performance plans for these leadership positions could lead to disruption at the top levels of the agency, which would result in the loss of significant institutional knowledge at the top levels of the agency.

Key Dates: Staff performance rating reviews are due to OPM by March 7, 2025. The new SES Performance Plan must be communicated throughout agencies by March 7, 2025, and will be effective as of Fiscal Year 2026.

Federal hiring reforms

An executive order requires that the federal government develop a “Federal Hiring Plan” prioritizing the hiring of employees “committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.” It also aims to decrease the overall time-to-hire to under 80 days.

Impact: The wording of this order is somewhat vague, which could make it challenging for the FDA to fill some empty positions in the short term. For example, it’s not clear how federal agencies will eventually operationalize a set of criteria to identify persons “passionate about the ideals of our American republic.”

Key Dates: A Federal Hiring Plan from OPM, OMB, DOGE and the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy is due May 20, 2025.

Emerging demands by DOGE

Senior Advisor ELON MUSK recently posted on social media that all federal employees would be required to send an email to their managers and OPM detailing five things they had accomplished during their last week of employment. Failure to write this communication would be considered to be a letter of resignation, he said. OPM later provided guidance on this directive, which had also been sent in an email to all federal staff.

Impact: This communication, which was later walked back after many agencies disavowed it, raise the potential that government staff may be fired at the whim of DOGE for not responding to sudden directives. It’s worth noting that this communication was sent on Saturday, and required a response by the end of day on Monday – about 48 hours later. Still, more than a million federal employees responded. Musk renewed this directive to federal staff this week.

Key dates: Monday, March 3 at 5 PM ET (and likely weekly thereafter).

Rulemaking targeting employment criteria

An executive order has called on OPM to initiate rulemaking which proposes to revise federal regulations to make it easier to fire staff for a range of additional offenses, including “negligent loss of material Government resources and equipment,” failure to comply with provisions which would “preclude regular Federal service,” and failure to file tax returns in a timely manner.

Impact: While this likely won’t have a significant impact on federal staff, it’s not entirely clear if some of the provisions in this rulemaking might have unintentionally (or intentionally) broad impacts. Much will depend on the specifics of the rule.

Key Dates: Proposed regulation due by March 11, 2025.