(Reuters) -The White House is working on an executive order to fire thousands of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services workers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
White House on Thursday denied it is drafting an executive order to cut workers across federal health agencies.
According to the Wall Street Journal, under the order, which could come as soon as next week, the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health agencies would have to cut a certain percentage of employees.
Officials have been told to prepare lists of probationary workers who have essential roles and must be retained and those who don’t, the newspaper reported.
The report comes after the Trump administration last week offered 2 million civilian full-time federal workers an opportunity to stop working this week and receive pay and benefits through Sept. 30 as President Donald Trump seeks to slash the size of the government.
The Department of Health and Human Services employs over 83,000 people, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Agencies within the department are task with an array of functions, including tracing the current bird flu outbreak and other viruses.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward, Ismail Shakil and Nandita Bose; Editing by Caitlin Webber)
