04.02.2025 / Statement

Families USA Statement on Mass Firings from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anthony Wright, executive director of Families USA, today released the following statement after reports that the Trump administration has fired thousands of people from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including significant portions of the staff at agencies serving the elderly, low-income communities and people with disabilities.

“The mass firings from HHS are yet another five-alarm fire caused by President Trump that threatens to torch the health system we all rely on. This slash-and-burn approach to our key health care agencies seemingly makes no sense unless the President’s goal is to destroy our nation’s health care infrastructure and the ability of families and seniors to access life-saving health care.

“President Trump’s superpower is his shamelessness: Republicans in Congress would never be able to face their constituents if they voted to eliminate programs that directly lower drug prices for our nation’s seniors, help veterans get mental health care, allow older Americans and people with disabilities to live independently in their communities, or protect Americans from emerging public health threats. Instead, the Trump administration is firing whole offices of people who work on these issues to shutter the programs in another massive overreach of executive power that has become a near-daily occurrence in his second term.

“Outside of defense, health care is the biggest thing the federal government does — whether taking care of seniors, veterans, children, or families, supporting services in rural and urban communities, conducting medical research, or ensuring the safety of medications and devices. Some may wish this just hits faceless federal workers in Washington, but these actions will eliminate access to health care and essential services that keep our families healthy, create crises in communities across the country, and put at risk the programs that have lifted up millions of American families for generations.

“These mass firings are making it harder for Americans to get the care they need, to access the Medicare and Medicaid benefits they have earned and will make it harder for the health care system that we all depend on to run efficiently and effectively to bring quality health care to more than 175 million Americans. We call on the Trump administration to reverse these harmful cuts and, if they don’t, for our representatives in Congress, the press, and the public to demand answers from the administration about the impacts of these decisions that will dismantle health and other vital services that Americans rely on.”