FDA to rehire fired staffers who booked inspection trips, but other workers remain in limbo

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time in recent months, the Food and Drug Administration is bringing back some recently fired employees, including staffers who handle travel bookings for safety inspectors.

More than 20 of the agency’s roughly 60 travel staff will be reinstated, according to two FDA staffers notified of the plan this week, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters.

Food scientists who test samples for bacteria and study potentially harmful chemicals also have been told they will get their jobs back, but have yet to receive any official confirmation.

The same uncertainty hangs over employees who process agency records for release to lawyers, companies and journalists under the Freedom of Information Act. About 100 of those staffers were recently eliminated, according to an agency official with direct knowledge of the situation.

But in recent days the FDA has missed multiple court-ordered deadlines to produce documents, which could result in hefty fines. That's prompted plans to bring back a significant number of those staffers.

The apparent reversals are the latest examples of the haphazard approach to agency cuts that have shrunk FDA’s workforce by an estimated 20%, or about 3,500 jobs, in addition to an unspecified number of retirements, voluntary buyouts and resignations.

In February, the FDA laid off about 700 provisional employees, including food and medical device reviewers, only to rehire many of them within days after pushback from industry, Congress and other parties.

The Department of Health and Human Services hasn't detailed exactly which positions or programs were cut in the mass layoffs.

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has repeatedly said that no FDA scientists were fired as part of the reductions. But at least two dozen food scientists who worked in a San Francisco testing laboratory and a Chicago research center were let go in March.

An HHS spokesperson suggested the apparent mix-up was due to “the fractured, outdated HR infrastructure we inherited from the Biden administration and are now actively overhauling.” The spokesperson did not respond to specific questions about which employees are being reinstated but said the administration will “streamline operations and fix the broken systems left to us.”

About 15 scientists working in FDA’s Division of Food Processing Science and Technology in Chicago were told last week they be will reinstated, according to a staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential agency matters. But a week later there has been no written confirmation and the scientists have not returned to the office. The group’s research includes studying ways to prevent harmful bacteria from growing on produce and preventing the spread of microplastics and other particles from food packaging.

“I hope Commissioner Makary continues to assess these ill-informed cuts and works to bring back impacted employees expeditiously,” said Susan Mayne of Yale University, the FDA’s former food director. “His legacy as commissioner is on the line.”

With more than 15,000 employees remaining across various U.S. and foreign offices, the FDA’s core responsibilities are reviewing new drugs, medical products and food ingredients as well as inspecting thousands of factories.

Makary has said no inspectors or medical reviewers were fired as part of the recent reductions. But current and former FDA officials note that those frontline employees are often supported by teams of administrative staff.

FDA inspectors, for example, have long relied on travel bookers to coordinate trips to India and other countries that often involve visa permissions, security measures, ground transportation, tech support, translation services and other logistics. Inspectors can spend up to half the year traveling, a grueling workload that makes recruiting and retaining staff a challenge.

For a brief period last month, inspectors were told they would be booking their own travel. The FDA set up a hotline to assist with making the arrangements. Then, agency leaders developed a plan to hire an outside contractor to perform the work.

On Monday, staffers were informed that about a third of the fired staff who performed the work would be returning.

___

AP reporter JoNel Aleccia contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.