Top Health Officials Placed on Leave as HHS Fires 10,000 Workers

Automated emails from Marrazzo and several other officials within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on April 3 confirmed they’re on leave.

That includes Dr. Diana Bianchi, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and Vence L. Bonham Jr., acting deputy director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who had been the agency’s top official following the departure of its director.

Marrazzo became director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2023, about nine months after Fauci stepped down. Bianchi has been in her position since 2016. Bonham has been with the research institute since at least 2005, according to his publications.

Julia Tierney, a top official at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, is also on leave, according to an automated missive, as is Dr. Peter Stein, director of the FDA’s Office of New Drugs, he told The Epoch Times in an email.

The center reviews vaccines while the office oversees the safety and efficacy of drugs.

Related Stories

The officials were still listed on the websites of their agencies on Thursday as holding their positions.

The National Human Genome Research Institute and Bonham did not respond to inquiries. An assistant for Bianchi and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the most well-known NIH divisions due to Fauci’s frequent appearances during the COVID-19 pandemic, referred requests for comment to the NIH. An NIH spokesperson referred inquiries to HHS which declined to comment on the officials’ employment status.

HHS said previously it would fire about 3,500 FDA employees, 2,400 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees, 1,200 NIH employees, and 300 employees from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

An HHS spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email on Thursday that the first phase of the reorganization was announcing the job cuts and restructuring. The second phase was the rollout on Tuesday of the terminations of roughly 10,000 employees, the spokesperson said.

“HHS leaders focused personnel cuts on redundant or unnecessary administrative positions,” the spokesperson said.

“These invitations are voluntary, and individuals have the option to accept or decline,” the spokesperson said. “Secretary Kennedy and the Department remain steadfast in their commitment to ensuring that American Indian and Alaska Native communities receive timely, quality healthcare.”

The spokesperson did not respond when asked how many officials received the offers, how many accepted them, and how many declined.

“I was offered a ’reassignment’ in ‘patient affairs’ … or termination (after admin leave),” he said. “I declined the offer (as ridiculous) so am on administrative leave.”