Washington DC [US], March 5: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told employees on Monday 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 emails seen by Reuters.
Republican President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who oversees the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, are spearheading an unprecedented effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy, including .
The HHS told employees in an email that it received authorization on Monday from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to offer early retirement under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, which impacts agencies "that are undergoing substantial restructuring, reshaping, downsizing, transfer of function or reorganization."
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 5 pm EST, the email said.
Last week, the administration sent out a second round of emails asking employees to share five bullet points on their accomplishments of the past week.
Employees at HHS, which includes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 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 U.S. agencies had also told employees not to respond immediately to DOGE's demand, including the FBI and State Department.
But in a Monday email seen by Reuters, HHS told employees to respond to DOGE's email 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 email on Monday, the second of which removed that reference.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents HHS workers, told members in an email 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 email 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.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
