Maryland will be hit especially hard by the Department of Health and Human Services' mass layoffs. Here's how Baltimore fits into the picture.

Employees at the Department of Health and Human Services began to receive notices of mass layoffs on Tuesday, days after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that 10,000 people would lose their jobs, including employees working on tobacco addiction, mental health and workplace safety.

Thousands of federal health employees, including doctors, researchers, and scientists, found themselves without a job as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) started sending notices as part of a sweeping overhaul of the agency.

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that he expects about 20 percent of fired employees to be reinstated as the agency backtracks after making cuts

There were some programs that were cut that are being reinstated," Kennedy told ABC News. "Personnel that should not have been cut were cut; we're reinstating them, and that was always the plan." The restructuring plan is part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s workforce optimization initiative,

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has acknowledged that mistakes may have been made in the recent dismissal of 10,000 agency employees, suggesting that around 20% of affected individuals may have their jobs reinstated.

Kennedy Jr. looks on, ahead of President Donald Trump delivering remarks on tariffs, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo (Reuters) - Cantor Fitzgerald analysts renewed their criticism of U.

Thousands of employees fired this week from the Department of Health and Human Services and the public health agencies it oversees may be asked to temporarily continue working for two months, the department said on Thursday.

Kennedy’s silence is prompting questions from lawmakers, with a bipartisan request for the health secretary to appear before a Senate committee next week to explain the cuts.

Kennedy Jr. offered no new details Wednesday about his massive restructuring of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the day after thousands of layoffs ricocheted through its agencies, hollowing out entire offices around the country in some cases.

Kennedy Jr. fat-shamed the state’s governor, Patrick Morrisey. “The first time I saw him, I said you look like you ate Governor Morrisey,” Kennedy told a laughing crowd. Morrisey has apparently invited Kennedy to be his personal trainer.

On the heels of terminating 10,000 jobs from the Department of Health and Human Services this week, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told ABC News some programs would soon be reinstated because they were mistakenly cut.