United States: hundreds of positions in the Department of Health soon without statutory protection

The administration of US President Donald Trump plans to remove hundreds of senior officials at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from civil service protections as part of a job reclassification plan, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

Employees at several HHS agencies received this memo indicating that positions within their teams would be reclassified. This change means that holders of these positions can now be fired ‘at will’. Previously, they could only be dismissed for cause and had appeal rights.

This move is in line with the overhaul of the federal civil service system announced by the administration in February.

This reform gives the president increased power to hire and fire up to 50,000 career officials, who would be reclassified under the ‘Schedule Policy/Career’ status, formerly known as ‘Schedule F’ in his first term.

An HHS official confirmed the authenticity of the email but did not respond to questions about the exact number of affected agents, their agencies, or functions. The targeted employee category, GS-15 level, generally includes high-level technical experts, managers, policy advisers, and supervisors.

The email specified that initially, ‘a relatively modest number… in the hundreds, not thousands’ of HHS staff in this category would likely be affected by this reclassification.

The document indicates that additional ‘batches’ of conversions will follow. The official, however, clarified that there would be no mass layoffs within the department beyond those already announced.

During his campaign, Donald Trump vowed to eliminate job protections for federal employees deemed by his team to influence government policy. Governance experts believe this change will make it easier to implement larger-scale layoffs.

Unions representing federal workers have challenged this measure in federal courts.

The Trump administration aims to reduce federal staff and make officials, as well as historically independent boards and commissions, more accountable to the White House.