Through the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk, the Trump administration wants to cut 10% of the federal workforce. The administration has laid off more than 200,000 federal employees, but some agencies have since rescinded these firings.
National Nuclear Security Administration
Two weeks ago, the National Nuclear Security Administration rescinded the Trump administration’s firings of certain probationary employees. The NNSA, charged with managing the United States’s nuclear stockpile, sent an email to employees a day after the firings. However, the agency failed to update the personal contact information of its workers and struggled to get in touch with terminated employees.
“The termination letters for some NNSA probationary employees are being rescinded, but we do not have a good way to get in touch with those personnel,” the email sent by NNSA officials, obtained by NBC News, reads.
US Department of Agriculture
Just days after the mass termination of employees, USDA rescinded its firings of an unspecified number of staffers working on the federal government’s response to the avian flu outbreak.
“Although several positions supporting [bird flu strategy] were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” a department spokesperson said. “USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service front-line positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission.”
Food and Drug Administration
The FDA is seeking to rehire 300 employees who were terminated by the Trump administration. Approximately 1,000 staffers were fired last week.
The FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, which oversees medical device reviews, sent 11 of its terminated employees notices that they could return to work on Monday.
At least 20 of those fired worked in the neurological and physical medicine devices office, and several of them worked on Musk’s Neuralink, according to Reuters. It is uncertain whether any of them were asked to return.
Indian Health Service
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rescinded the firings of approximately 950 Indian Health Service employees on Friday. Kennedy’s circumvention came the same day the employees received word of their termination.
Kennedy said in a statement that the IHS would remain a “priority over the next four years.”
“The Indian Health Service has always been treated as the redheaded stepchild at HHS,” Kennedy said. “My father often complained that IHS was chronically understaffed and underfunded. President Trump wants me to rectify this sad history.”
Bonneville Power Administration
The Bonneville Power Administration, a “nonprofit federal power marketing administration within the Department of Energy,” laid off 130 probationary employees last week but now is recalling 30 of them to return to work.
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Those reinstated to work served “mission critical work” managing power across the Pacific Northwest, a senior official told NPR.
BPR is responsible for distributing hydropower from 31 federal dams and operates 75% of the Northwest’s power grid.
