FDA to rehire fired staffers who booked inspection trips, but other
workers remain in limbo
[May 02, 2025]
By MATTHEW PERRONE
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time in recent months, the Food and
Drug Administration is bringing back some recently fired employees,
including staffers who handle travel bookings for safety inspectors.
More than 20 of the agency’s roughly 60 travel staff will be reinstated,
according to two FDA staffers notified of the plan this week, who spoke
on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters.
Food scientists who test samples for bacteria and study potentially
harmful chemicals also have been told they will get their jobs back, but
have yet to receive any official confirmation.
The same uncertainty hangs over employees who process agency records for
release to lawyers, companies and journalists under the Freedom of
Information Act. About 100 of those staffers were recently eliminated,
according to an agency official with direct knowledge of the situation.
But in recent days the FDA has missed multiple court-ordered deadlines
to produce documents, which could result in hefty fines. That's prompted
plans to bring back a significant number of those staffers.
The apparent reversals are the latest examples of the haphazard approach
to agency cuts that have shrunk FDA’s workforce by an estimated 20%, or
about 3,500 jobs, in addition to an unspecified number of retirements,
voluntary buyouts and resignations.
In February, the FDA laid off about 700 provisional employees, including
food and medical device reviewers, only to rehire many of them within
days after pushback from industry, Congress and other parties.
The Department of Health and Human Services hasn't detailed exactly
which positions or programs were cut in the mass layoffs.
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has repeatedly said that no FDA scientists
were fired as part of the reductions. But at least two dozen food
scientists who worked in a San Francisco testing laboratory and a
Chicago research center were let go in March.
An HHS spokesperson suggested the apparent mix-up was due to “the
fractured, outdated HR infrastructure we inherited from the Biden
administration and are now actively overhauling.” The spokesperson did
not respond to specific questions about which employees are being
reinstated but said the administration will “streamline operations and
fix the broken systems left to us.”
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Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Marty Makary speaks
during a news conference on the FDA's intent to phase out the use of
petroleum-based synthetic dyes in the nation's food supply at the
Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, Tuesday, April
22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
 About 15 scientists working in FDA’s
Division of Food Processing Science and Technology in Chicago were
told last week they be will reinstated, according to a staffer who
spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency
matters. But a week later there has been no written confirmation and
the scientists have not returned to the office. The group’s research
includes studying ways to prevent harmful bacteria from growing on
produce and preventing the spread of microplastics and other
particles from food packaging.
“I hope Commissioner Makary continues to assess these ill-informed
cuts and works to bring back impacted employees expeditiously,” said
Susan Mayne of Yale University, the FDA’s former food director. “His
legacy as commissioner is on the line.”
With more than 15,000 employees remaining across various U.S. and
foreign offices, the FDA’s core responsibilities are reviewing new
drugs, medical products and food ingredients as well as inspecting
thousands of factories.
Makary has said no inspectors or medical reviewers were fired as
part of the recent reductions. But current and former FDA officials
note that those frontline employees are often supported by teams of
administrative staff.
FDA inspectors, for example, have long relied on travel bookers to
coordinate trips to India and other countries that often involve
visa permissions, security measures, ground transportation, tech
support, translation services and other logistics. Inspectors can
spend up to half the year traveling, a grueling workload that makes
recruiting and retaining staff a challenge.
For a brief period last month, inspectors were told they would be
booking their own travel. The FDA set up a hotline to assist with
making the arrangements. Then, agency leaders developed a plan to
hire an outside contractor to perform the work.
On Monday, staffers were informed that about a third of the fired
staff who performed the work would be returning.
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AP reporter JoNel Aleccia contributed to this report.
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