Less than a week after mass firings at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some probationary staffers received unexpected news over the weekend: they were being rehired. Beginning Friday night, FDA employees overseeing medical devices and other key areas were notified that their recent terminations had been rescinded effective immediately.
The reversal highlights the chaotic approach to cost-cutting under President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, which has led to agencies firing and then scrambling to rehire employees in critical sectors. The FDA reinstatements followed pushback from lobbyists for the medical device industry, which pays the agency hundreds of millions annually to hire extra scientists for product reviews. AdvaMed, the industry’s leading trade group, stated that “a sizeable number” of device reviewers would return to the FDA, calling the move welcome news.
Entire teams of five or more medical device reviewers were reinstated, though there was no similar effort for staffers in other parts of the agency, including its food and tobacco centers. The FDA has not disclosed official numbers on the terminations, but former officials estimate around 700 employees were fired, with over 220 from the medical device center.
The terminations targeted employees in their probationary period, typically the first two years of federal employment, affecting key areas like artificial intelligence and digital health. Former FDA official Steve Silverman noted that the initial firings caused unintended negative results, making the reinstatements a positive shift.
Reinstated staffers received calls or emails from the FDA’s “Office of Talent Solutions,” restoring their access to computer systems and offices. A week earlier, these employees had been told they were “not fit for continued employment.”
The FDA’s tobacco center, funded entirely by industry fees, saw no similar rehiring efforts for the estimated 100 employees fired. Similarly, the recalls did not apply to the agency’s food program, which recently underwent restructuring. Last week, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods, Jim Jones, resigned, citing the indiscriminate firing of nearly 90 staffers in his division. — news from The Associated Press