The Food and Drug Administration is one of the most consequential institutions in American public life. It regulates products that account for over 20 cents of every consumer dollar. It ensures the safety of the food we eat, the drugs we take, and the medical devices that sustain and save lives. Yet, in a time of rapid technological advancement and increasingly complex health threats, the FDA has been kneecapped by a wave of layoffs executed by Trump administration budget-cutters that cast a long shadow over the future of America’s medical innovation and public health.
In what officials touted as a bold move to “shrink the size of government,” the Department of Health and Human Services, under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., carried out a “reduction-in-force” targeting nearly 3,500 FDA employees — roughly 20% of the agency’s workforce. Although front-line reviewers and inspectors were mainly spared, the exodus of administrative, policy, technical, and communications staff has caused a ripple effect of disruption and dysfunction.
