02/21/2025

Federal Government Firing Workers Not Funded by Taxpayers

The layoffs raise questions about savings and impact on federal budget

Elon Musk's DOGE team, a nongovernmental entity, has slashed hundreds of jobs paid for by fees from banks, medical device companies and other forms of funding rather than taxpayer dollars, raising the question of whether the cuts will render hoped for savings.

Most of around 200 Food and Drug Administration employees fired over the weekend held jobs that were paid for by fees charged to medical device makers under a 2002 law, according to former employees and sources familiar with the matter, depleting staff needed to approve medically necessary products like stents and implants for consumers. Overall, the FDA has around 20,000 workers.

"The overwhelming majority of those who will be terminated as a result of this are recent hires... funded through user fees," said Scott Whitaker, CEO of the medical device industry group AdvaMed. "So, as a result of that, the federal government will not save money."

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