DOGE lays off 3,600 probationary HHS employees – but retains 4,000

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Government Efficiency terminated employment for 3,600 probationary Health and Human Services employees on Friday — but went through a careful process to exclude those who were serving in specialized or critical roles.  

More than half of the agency’s probationary employees were retained. 

The cuts are estimated to save about $600 million in taxpayer dollars annually. 

DOGE SAYS IT DUG UP ANOTHER $1.9 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY ‘MISPLACED’ BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION 

Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump meets with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House, on Thursday, Feb. 13. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Probationary employees who were excluded from layoffs include: 

• Employees working on refugee and resettlement within the Administration of Children and Families (ACF)
• Employees working on emergency preparedness and response within Administration for Strategy Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other divisions of HHS
• Scientists conducting research at the CDC and National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Frontline healthcare providers at the Indian Health Service (HIS)
• Employees working on Medicare and Medicaid at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
• Employees reviewing and approving drugs or conducting inspections at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

DOGE identified critical employees by first considering key functions of HHS — frontline healthcare providers, scientists conducting innovative research, personnel responding to emergencies – followed by employee roles, including work history, background, and job title screenings.   

NEW SEN. JIM JUSTICE ‘ABSOLUTELY’ SHOCKED BY DEMOCRATS’ RESPONSE TO ELON MUSK’S DOGE REVELATIONS 

Demonstrators rally in support of federal workers outside the Department of Health and Human Services, Friday, Feb. 14, in Washington.  (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

“In many cases where there was a lack of clarity, we worked directly with folks who either knew the employees or knew the work of the division to clarify the exact work they were doing,” a Trump administration official said. 

While the exact process will differ with each federal agency DOGE examines, key functions, specialized responsibilities, and individual roles will be considered for each workforce-cutting analysis. HHS received special attention — especially within the CDC, with meticulous consideration of research functions, lab work, and outbreak surveillance and response. 

“Healthcare is obviously an important goal for the new Secretary, for the President,” the official said. “We want to make the government more efficient and want to reduce the size of the federal workforce, but we also want to make sure we’re very thoughtful about the critical functions that the government needs to perform.” 

Officials said DOGE does not begin any evaluation with any predetermined cost-cutting goal, and there is no official order through which federal agencies are lining up for examination. 

People rally against the policies of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 12. (AP/Jose Luis Magana)

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“Typically, contracts and grants are the two main mechanisms the federal government has for dispersing funds,” the official told Fox News. “And then we’re also thinking about regulations. Every agency is different, but the things we’re looking at are pretty similar across every agency.” 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.