Thousands of employees of the US federal health agency received emails Monday afternoon.
The shooting was originally reported on April 1st for most of the included employees, but they were late A legal battle unfolded. The US Department of Health and Human Services said in an email that it reached its peak with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on July 8th. This means that the agency is “currently allowed to proceed with some of its reductions.”
According to a copy obtained by CNN, “we are notified that it has been officially separated from HHS at closing on July 14, 2025.” “Thank you for serving the Americans.”
“HHS previously announced plans to convert this department into health again, and we’re going to do just that,” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in an email to CNN after the Supreme Court ruling last week.
In a reorganization announced on March 27, HHS eliminated 10,000 employees across agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. Some have since regained their jobs, but thousands have lost jobs on Monday.
But some of these 10,000 are temporarily protected at least in another trial, New York v. Kennedy isn’t split anytime soon, the spokesman said. This includes six CDC employees. This is HIV National Center, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention. National Center for Environmental Health. Reproductive Health Division; National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Office on smoking and health. National Center for Birth and Developmental Disorders – FDA’s Cigarette Products Center. Head Start’s office. Department of Data and Technical Analysis under Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
“All employees previously notified on April 1 are separated, except for those with temporary New York vs. Kennedy protections,” a HHS spokesperson said.
In that case, Judge Melissa Dubose, of the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, granted a provisional injunction request this month from a coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia, in order to halt its March 27 reorganization plan.
Last week, the administration asked Dubose to narrow her decision down to the department cited by a spokesman for the HHS, but the judge has yet to rule that request.
Given that many HHS workers are still protected by the Dubose order, layoffs will likely be challenged in court, but the agency could argue that the Supreme Court ruling allows staff to be cut, said Michael Fallings, managing partner at Tully Rinckey, a federal employment law specialist.
Also on Monday, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to proceed with a massive layoff at another institution for now: the Department of Education. The verdict was caught up in a lawsuit filed by teachers’ unions, school districts, states and education groups.
Within two hours of that decision, the department sent notifications to employees, promptly reopening plans, indicating that workers would be let go on August 1st.
“They seem to be encouraged by recent Supreme Court decisions that have been lit up the actions of the Trump administration, where other courts remain,” said Andrew Twinamatsuko, director of the O’Neill Institute Law and Law Center at George Gettown University, which is underway during the HHS layoffs.
In a Supreme Court decision last week, the judges allowed federal agencies to suspend orders that temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from taking those steps without Congressional approval.
However, the judge said, “We do not consider the legality of the agency RIF and the reorganization plan,” opening up the possibility of control over certain agency layoff plans in the future, and that the reductions appear to have made it impossible for the department to carry out its obligations under the law.
It was submitted by a coalition of over 12 unions, nonprofits and local governments. The case, which comes from an executive order signed in mid-February, began a process that significantly reduces the size of federal agencies.
CNN’s John Fritze, Devan Cole and Sunlen Serfaty contributed to this report.
