FDA reverses course on telework after layoffs and resignations threaten basic operations

WASHINGTON — Weeks after ordering all Food and Drug Administration employees back into the office, the agency is reversing course, allowing some of its most prized staffers to work remotely amid worries that recent layoffs and resignations could jeopardize basic functions, like approving new medicines.

An internal email obtained by The Associated Press states that FDA leadership are ''allowing review staff and supervisors to resume telework'' at least two days a week. The policy shift was confirmed by three FDA staffers who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal agency matters.

The message was sent Tuesday to some of the FDA's hundreds of drug reviewers. Staffers said a similar policy was communicated to reviewers who handle vaccines, biotech drugs, medical devices and tobacco products— although not always in writing.

It's the latest example of the Trump administration's chaotic approach to overhauling the federal health workforce, which has included firings, a scramble to rehire some employees, and then additional layoffs last week of an estimated 3,400 staffers, or more than 15% of the agency's workforce. When FDA employees were called back to the agency's Maryland headquarters last month they confronted overflowing parking lots, crowded offices and broken or missing supplies.

A spokeswoman for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the administration is returning to ''pre-COVID telework arrangements for reviewers, whose read and write work output is tracked in 15-minute increments to ensure productivity and accountability.''

While many agencies switched to telework during the pandemic, the FDA began embracing the practice nearly two decades earlier. The flexibility was seen as a competitive perk for recruiting employees who can often earn more working in industry.

Last week's cuts included entire offices focusing on FDA policy and regulations, most of the agency's communication staff and teams that support food inspectors and investigators. Senior officials overseeing tobacco, new drugs, vaccines and other products have also been dismissed or forced to resign. Staffers have described rank-and-file employees ''pouring'' out of the agency.

When Kennedy announced plans to eliminate 10,000 staffers across the federal health workforce, he noted that FDA medical reviewers and safety inspectors wouldn't be impacted.

In February, HHS was forced to recall some probationary employees who were fired, including hundreds of medical reviewers at FDA, whose salaries are largely funded by industry fees, not federal dollars.

But last week's cuts combined with resignations and retirements have raised a new threat: that FDA funding could fall so low that it short circuits a long-standing system in which companies help fund much of the agency's operations.

Nearly half the FDA's nearly $7 billion budget comes from fees collected from drug, device and tobacco companies. The agency uses the money to hire thousands of extra staffers to quickly and efficiently review new products. For example, about 70% of the FDA's drug program is financed by user-fee agreements, which must be reauthorized by Congress every five years.

But the agreements stipulate that if FDA's federal funding falls below set levels, companies are no longer required to pay fees and, in some cases, can claw back their money. The threshold requirements are designed to ensure Congress continues funding FDA, rather than relying entirely on the private sector.

''I don't think the agency nor regulated industry can afford for ‘user fees' not to be reauthorized,'' said Michael Gaba, an attorney who advises FDA-regulated companies.

Whatever the reasoning behind the telework shift, former government officials say it's a sign that recently confirmed FDA Commissioner Marty Makary is trying to retain and rebuild staffing and resources. Makary made his first appearance at FDA's headquarters last Wednesday, one day after the mass layoffs. According to the memo obtained by the AP, Makary signed off on the return to telework.

''Dr. Makary needs to rebuild teams and restart the engine of productivity lost to weeks of job insecurity, uncertainty and shortages of team members,'' said Steven Grossman, a former HHS official. ''Turning commuting time back into work time is a great first step in achieving both.''

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