'Abdication of Your Sworn Duty': Senate Dems Grill RFK Jr on Mass Firing of Health Workers

Senate Democrats on Friday demanded answers from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding the purge of more than 5,000 agency workers after HHS "blindly followed" a "baseless directive" by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency that the lawmakers said is "blatantly undermining Americans' health and safety."

In one letter to Kennedy signed by all 45 Democratic senators plus Independent Sens. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the lawmakers said that "as HHS secretary, the consequences of epidemics, lost treatments, and lack of access to care are your responsibility."

"The Trump administration is firing staff and harming programs that Americans rely on every day."

"These firings represent the abdication of your sworn duty to ensure the health and well-being of America's families," the letter states. "You have an obligation to the American people, who rely on you as the nation's top public health official, to stop these ill-conceived and dangerous attacks on agencies and programs that Americans rely on every day."

"These uninformed, baseless firings will reportedly continue across HHS under your leadership," the senators continued. "The Trump administration is firing staff and harming programs that Americans rely on every day, and these arbitrary cuts will endanger children, seniors, and at-risk communities, set medical progress back by decades, curtail patient access to care, and make the nation less prepared for emerging public health threats."

The lawmakers want to know:

• How many HHS employees were fired between January 20, 2025 and February 18, 2025?
• How many of these employees were probationary?
• How were HHS employees notified that they were being fired, and on what grounds?
• What, if any, analysis was conducted prior to firings to determine the immediate and long-term impact they will have?
• What role did the Department of Government Efficiency have in identifying or prioritizing employees for termination?
• What metrics did DOGE use in doing so?
• What specific guidance was given to HHS for identifying additional employees to lay off?

Roll Call reported that Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) also sent Kennedy a letter on Friday, this one expressing concern that mass firings at the Food and Drug Administration—an HHS agency—could adversely affect food safety and drug and medical device approvals.

"Without adequate staff at each center that receives user fees, the FDA may not be able to collect or spend user fees for the upcoming fiscal year," the lawmakers wrote, according to Roll Call. "This would be seriously detrimental to our medical drug and device programs by slowing the premarket review process, stifling innovation and preventing patients from accessing potentially lifesaving products."

Ten Senate Democrats so far have also signed a letter to Trump condemning the looming layoff of hundreds of staff at the Indian Health Service (IHS)—another HHS agency—amidst a healthcare worker shortage in Indigenous communities across the nation.

"Not only will this lead to worse health outcomes, but overall costs will also rise," the letter argues. "With less healthcare services at existing IHS facilities, there will be increased Purchased Referred Care referrals. This will increase costs for the federal government and require increased travel, accommodations, and expenses, creating increased hardships and barriers for patients and families seeking care far from where they live on tribal lands."

The lawmakers' letters come as thousands of federal workers—especially those employed under probationary conditions—are being fired from their jobs, many under what critics claim are false pretexts of poor performance.

The HHS layoffs also come amid fears that Trump will not protect Medicare after the president's Thursday endorsement of a plan by GOP House lawmakers that would slash social spending so severely that even far-right Sen. Josh Hawley (D-Mo.) has warned against it. This, in order to fund an extension of the president's 2017 "tax scam" that primarily benefited the wealthy.

Early Friday, Senate Republicansapproved a separate and narrower budget resolution after rejecting Democratic amendments to avert cuts to federal health and other social programs.