US health agency says employees can apply for early retirement

WASHINGTON - The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told employees on March 3 that they could apply for early retirement over the next 10 days and should respond to a request for information on their accomplishments of the past week, according to e-mails seen by Reuters.

Republican President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who oversees the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, are spearheading an

unprecedented effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy, including through job cuts

.

The HHS told employees in an e-mail that it received authorisation on March 3 from the US Office of Personnel Management (OMP) to offer early retirement under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, which impacts agencies “that are undergoing substantial restructuring, reshaping, downsizing, transfer of function or reorganisation”.

An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Employees were directed to OMP’s website, which says eligible employees must be at least 50 years old with 20 years of federal service, or any age with 25 years of service, among other requirements. The offer is valid until March 14 at 5pm, the e-mail said.

Last week, the administration sent out a second round of e-mails asking employees to share five bullet points on their accomplishments of the past week.

Employees at HHS, which includes the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, had previously been told that

they did not have to respond to Doge’s emails

and there would be “no impact to your employment with the agency if you choose not to respond”.

Multiple other US agencies had also told employees not to respond immediately to Doge’s demand, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and State Department.

But in a March 3 e-mail seen by Reuters, HHS told employees to respond to Doge’s e-mail by midnight without revealing sensitive information, including the names of drugs and devices they are working on.

HHS previously warned employees that responses to Doge’s request may “be read by malign foreign actors”.

The department sent two versions of its e-mail on March 3, the second of which removed that reference.

The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents HHS workers, told members in an e-mail seen by Reuters that they must comply with the agency’s choice to proceed with the “ill-advised exercise”.

The union was not immediately available for comment.

Employees were told in HHS’s e-mail to follow supervisor guidance on how to reply and respond in a way that would not identify grants, grantees, contracts or contractors, nor information that would identify the precise nature of scientific experiments, research or reviews.

“I feel I will spend the whole day writing these five bullets in a way that does not contain sensitive information while also providing information that my job is important. I don’t know if this can be called efficiency,” said an FDA source who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Employees on leave, out of office due to work schedules, or who have signed a deferred resignation agreement are not required to respond, according to the e-mail. REUTERS