Health agencies experience widespread dismissals following a Supreme Court ruling by the HHS
In a significant decision on July 8, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily lifted legal barriers, permitting federal health agencies and other federal departments to proceed with mass job separations and workforce reductions as authorised by an executive order issued by President Trump earlier in the year.
The Supreme Court's ruling reversed a preliminary injunction issued by a lower court that had blocked the implementation of the executive order directing large-scale reductions in force (RIF) across federal agencies, including health agencies. This decision allows the Trump administration to carry out its plans to significantly reduce the federal workforce under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency initiative while legal challenges continue.
The Court's majority signalled that the administration is likely to prevail on the legality of the executive order and associated memoranda from the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management that govern how RIFs are to be implemented. Agencies across the federal government are expected to swiftly resume workforce cuts that had been on hold due to the injunction.
However, the issue remains under active judicial review, and the legality of the executive order could still be contested in the courts. Notably, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented strongly, warning that the ruling "allows an apparently unprecedented and congressionally unsanctioned dismantling of the Federal Government to continue apace, causing irreparable harm."
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced thousands of federal health agency employees would be terminated. The US Department of Education has also resumed its layoff plans, with employees to be let go on August 1.
It is important to note that employees at certain units of the CDC, the Center for Tobacco Products at the FDA, the Office of Head Start, and the Division of Data and Technical Analysis under the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation are temporarily protected under a court case, NY v. Kennedy, and are not being separated immediately.
The case stemmed from an executive order Trump signed in mid-February that kicked off the process of significantly reducing the size of federal agencies. A coalition of more than a dozen unions, nonprofits, and local governments had filed the case in opposition to the administration's plans.
As the federal government moves forward with these workforce reductions, it is crucial to monitor the ongoing legal challenges and their potential impact on the future of the federal workforce.
- The Supreme Court's decision on July 8, 2025, has allowed federal health agencies, among others, to proceed with mass job separations, a significant step in the Trump administration's policy-and-legislation agenda.
- The ruling on the Donald Trump-signed executive order, which authorizes large-scale reductions in force (RIF) across federal departments, including health agencies, has also impacted other federal departments such as the US Department of Education.
- Although legal challenges continue and the issue remains under active judicial review, the Supreme Court's decision on war-and-conflicts, crime-and-justice, and general-news-related matters has allowed the Trump administration to implement its politics-related policy, causing a potential reorganization of the federal workforce.
