By Matthew Perrone
WASHINGTON (AP) – A few weeks after bringing all Food and Drug Administration employees back into the office, agents are turning back courses, allowing some of the most highly regarded staff to work remotely amid concerns that recent layoffs and resignations could endanger basic functions, such as approval of new drugs.
An internal email obtained by the Associated Press states that FDA leadership is “enableing review staff and supervisors to resume teleworking.” The policy shift was confirmed by three FDA staff who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal agency issues.
The message was sent to some of the FDA’s hundreds of drug judges on Tuesday. Staff said similar policies have been communicated to reviewers who handle vaccines, biotech drugs, medical devices and tobacco products, although not necessarily written.
This is the latest example of the Trump administration’s chaotic approach to overhauling the federal health workforce. This includes scrambling to rehire some employees, and additional layoffs of over 15% of the estimated 3,400 staff or agency workforce last week. When FDA employees were called back to the agency’s headquarters last month, they faced overflowing parking, crowded offices, broken or lost supplies.
A spokesman for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the administration is “returning to reviewers’ pre-Covid telework arrangements where read and write work output is tracked in 15-minute increments to ensure productivity and accountability.”
Many institutions switched to telework during the pandemic, but the FDA began accepting practice 10 years ago. Flexibility was seen as a competitive perk for recruiting employees who could earn more jobs in the industry.
Last week’s cuts included an entire office focused on FDA policies and regulations. This included most of the communications staff and teams from the agency that supported food inspectors and investigators. High-ranking officials overseeing tobacco, new drugs, vaccines and other products have also been forced to reject or resign. Staff explain that rank and file employees “pour” from the agency.
Former FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler called the cut “devastating, accidental, thoughtless and confused” during a House hearing on Wednesday.
When Kennedy announced plans to eliminate 10,000 staff across the federal health workforce, he realized that FDA medical examiners and safety inspectors would not be affected.
In February, HHS was forced to remember a fired trial employee, including hundreds of FDA medical reviewers, that was primarily funded by industry costs rather than federal dollars.
However, last week’s cuts combined with resignation and retirement sparked a new threat. FDA funding can be very low, short-circuiting long-standing systems in which companies fund much of their institutional operations.
Almost half of the FDA’s $7 billion budget comes from fees collected from drug, devices and tobacco companies. Agents use their money to hire thousands of staff to review new products quickly and efficiently. For example, approximately 70% of the FDA’s drug programs are funded by user fee agreements that must be reapproved by Congress every five years.
However, the agreement stipulates that if FDA’s federal funds fall below the set level, businesses no longer need to pay and in some cases can collect money. Threshold requirements are designed to ensure Congress continues to fund the FDA rather than rely entirely on the private sector.
The FDA and industry groups are expected to begin negotiations later this year, renewing several user-foo contracts, including drugs and devices.
“We are accustomed to FDA-regulated companies,” said Michael Gabb, an attorney who advises FDA-regulated companies.
Whatever the reason behind the telework shift, former federal officials say it is a sign that FDA commissioner Marty McCurry has recently confirmed he is trying to retain and rebuild the agency’s staffing position. McCurry first made his appearance at the FDA headquarters last Wednesday, a day after a massive layoff. McCurry has approved a return to telework for some employees, according to a memo obtained by the AP.
“Dr. McCurry needs to rebuild his team and reopen the engine of productivity that has been lost to weeks of work anxiety, uncertainty and lack of team members,” said Stephen Grossman, a former HHS employee. “Bringing commute time back to work is a great first step towards achieving both.”
The Associated Press School of Health Sciences is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institution’s Science and Education Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
Original issue: April 10th, 2025, 5:48pm EDT
