The Food and Drug Administration has disrupted departments responsible for staff at training institutions and external health professionals to support key public health, regulations, safety practices and professional development of employees.
In an email viewed by CNBC, workers were informed that the Department of Learning and Organizational Development (DLOD) is facing cuts under a broader plan to restructure Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). All 30 or more employees in the department were fired. It was a small team within the FDA, but it was an important resource for the entire agency and outside doctors, nurses, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, among other professionals.
Kennedy focuses on HHS cutting 10,000 jobs in HHS, including around 3,500 full-time employees at the FDA, with HHS focusing on “those that streamline operations and centralize management functions.” The FDA is responsible for adjusting and supervising the safety, effectiveness and security of humans and veterinarians, medical devices, food and cosmetics.
The HHS states that the agency’s cuts will not affect drug, medical device or food inspectors or reviewers, and will primarily target workers who are deemed unnecessary liability. However, reports suggest that the Trump administration, along with several recent human cases, including top veterinarians who oversee the FDA’s avian flu response during outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows, is eliminating employees who have played a key role in protecting public health.
Kennedy said last week that some federal agency staff and programs will be revived after his drastic cuts, but it is unclear whether that includes DLOD employees. The FDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The department has cancelled all planned activities, including science and regulatory education, along with leadership and organizational development, according to email. In addition, the entire FDA has discarded the processing and approval of so-called continuing education activities. This refers to formal education programs that help agency staff and external health professionals stay up to date with medical, public health and regulatory practices.
For example, some programs trained to support regulatory decision-making using agency staff and external physicians, nurses, pharmacists, opioid safety, drug errors, infectious and rare diseases, clinical trials, and artificial intelligence. The department also held monthly presentations to highlight agency-wide research, including a recent survey on tobacco use, which employees said are affected by public health protection.
According to one FDA employee, there are no credit-given points to complete approved educational activities such as lectures, online modules, and workshops. In some states, healthcare professionals must earn a certain number of credits each year, or obtain a license cycle to maintain their qualifications and maintain medical knowledge and standards.
The FDA is also losing the core resources employees can go to for professional development and training.
“There is a lot of uncertainty about how learners and experts will adapt with the removal of DLOD,” said one FDA employee. “They are now responsible for independently finding and choosing their own courses, which can lead to confusion and inefficiency.”
According to two FDA employees, one office in the department was fully funded by so-called user fees, not taxpayer dollars. The FDA collects these fees from companies that produce certain products, such as drugs and medical devices, and other entities such as specific certification bodies.
The Trump administration cites federal cost cuts as part of its justification to fire HHS employees, raising questions about why it targeted the unit.
The office, known as the Continuing Education and Consultation Accreditation Team, is the only group within the FDA that has been permitted to issue credits to both FDA employees and external health professionals, the two employees said. The office includes six workers, all of whom will lose their jobs.
The office was also the only “co-authorized” unit within the FDA. This means that employees are entitled to provide training in a variety of medical fields.
