HHS career staff: thank you for years of dedicated public service.
SECOND OPEN LETTER:
HHS44/46 Public Service Letter
April 1, 2025
Dear Colleagues,
You’ve likely read the press release by now — the one dressed in the usual euphemisms about “efficiency” and “streamlining.” But let us speak plainly. What is happening now is not a restructuring — it is a calculated dismissal of 10,000 public servants. Entire agencies — ACL, AHRQ, HRSA, NIOSH, SAMHSA — are being dismantled or buried inside a hollow new entity. The promise is savings. The reality is the abandonment of people who rely on us most: the sick, the vulnerable, the poor.
You are not excess. You are not redundant. You are the backbone of this Department. And while your roles may have been struck from the org chart, the impact of your work lives on. The mother seeking help for postpartum depression, the elder depending on a warm meal, the nurse relying on the research you advanced — they will feel your absence. They already do. That is the mark of true public service: it works in silence and disappears at great cost.
You did not take this work for praise or profit. You took it because you believed that public health is a public good — that government, when staffed by principled people, can be a force for care, for safety, for human dignity. That belief has not failed. It has been wounded. And it will rise again — because people like you do not give up.
HHS is what it is because of you. The genome was mapped, Head Start was born, HIV care became accessible, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was launched, Indian Country was served, people had access to life-saving overdose-reversing drugs — not by slogans, but by your labor. No press release can erase that. No political campaign can claim it. You held the line when it mattered. And now, scattered though we may be, we carry that mission forward — in new roles, in new places, with the same resolve.
The storm is here. But so are we.
Thank you for your service.
AN OPEN LETTER TO HHS EMPLOYEES
Feb. 15, 2025
Public service is a privilege. It is also a choice. You chose to serve because you believe that government can make a difference in people’s lives. You chose to serve because you believe that Americans should have the opportunity to live safe and healthy lives.
Please know that the time and energy that you have invested in your work does not go unrecognized. We appreciate all your efforts, especially your focus on providing care to those who are struggling. You embody the mission and vision of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Thank you for your service.
SIGNED
Adam Beckman
Adam Sarvana
Adeola Adesina
Aditi Mallick
Adrian Shanker
Alastair Fitzpayne
Alex Castillo Smith
Ali Sutton
Alison Barkoff
Allison Orris
Ana Mascareñas
Andi Lipstein Fristedt
Andrés Argüello
Andy Schneider
Angel Padilla
Angela Botticella
Ann Flagg
Anna Fogel
Anne Feldman
Anne Morris Reid
Aracely Macias
Arsenio Mataka
Aviva Sufian
Ayame Nagatani Dinkler
Barbara McGarey
Ben Shannon
Ben Sommers
Berit Mansour
Beth Link
Dr. Bernadine Futrell
Bertha Alisia Guerrero
Bill Corr
Brian Chiglinsky
Brian Kaplun
Brian Reich
Caroline Dvorsky
Carrie Pugh
Cat Oakar
Caya Lewis Atkins
Cezar A. B. Lopez
Charles J. Homer
Chelsea Crooks
Chris Canning
Christiana Shoushtari
Christine Evans
Claire Pierce-Wrobel
Clark Lee
Cristina Villa
Cynthia Palafox
Damon L. Davis
Dan Tsai
David Blumenthal
David Gonzalez Rice
Dawn O’Connell
Dennis Gonzalez
Destiny Gregg
Don Berwick
Douglas Steiger
Duncan Teater
Eli Fleet
Elizabeth Carr
Elizabeth Darnall
Elizabeth Gramling
Elizabeth Lee
Emily Barson
Emily Dalton Niles
Emily DiBari
Emily Schlichting Demres
Erica Jefferson
Erin Seidler
Erin Szulman
Ernesto Rodriguez
Everett Handford
Fatima Cuevas
Gabriela Sibori
Geoffrey Roth
Georgette Lewis
Glenna Crooks
Hannah Katch
Hannah Salazar
Heather Purcell
Helen Beaudreau
Henry Claypool
Herb Schultz
Hollis Infanzon
Hope Spector
Howard K. Koh
Ilse Zuniga
Jaime Mulligan
January Contreras
Jarel LaPan Hill
Jeannie Chaffin
Jeff Hild
Jeff Nesbit
Jeffrey Reynoso
Jen Smyers
Jenny Ma
Jennifer Baker
Jennifer Cannistra
Jeremy Sharp
Jermatic Chambers
Jess Smith
Jessica Marcella
Jim Esquea
Jimmy Kolker
Joan Lombardi
Jocelyn Samuels
Joe McCannon
Joel McElvain
John Monahan
Jonathan Moore
Jorge Silva
Jorge Zurita-Coronado
Joseph Nolan
Joshuah Marshall
Joshua Peck
Juliet K. Choi
Justine Sarver
Kacey Wulff
Karen A. Scott
Karuna Seshasai
Kasey Hampton
Kasia Witkowski
Kate Wolff
Kathleen Falk
Kathleen Sebelius
Katie Hamm
Kelsey Mellette
Kemba A Hendrix
Kevin Barstow
Kevin Becerra Segura
Kimberly Espinosa
Kristi Martin
Krystal Ka’ai
Kyle McCarthy
Dr. Lanikque Howard
Larry Handerhan
Larry L. Sandigo
Laura Durso
Laura Petrou
Lauren Aronson
Leah Hunter
Leslie Dach
Lily Griego
Linda Elam
Lisa Barclay
Lisa Molyneux
Lisa Thimjon
Lizette Olmos Godfrey
Lucia C. Savage
Lynda M. Gyles
Lynn Rosenthal
Lynn Sha
Madeline Anscombe
Makana Meyer
Marc Gonzales
Margaret M. Dotzel
Mari Dorn-Lopez
Marisa Aleguas
Marjorie K. Connolly
Mark Greenberg
Marrianne McMullen
Martine Sadarangani Gordon
Mary Smith
Mary Wakefield
Mathieu Douceur Jr
Matt Inzeo
Maura Calsyn
May Malik
Mayra E Alvarez
McKenzie Wilson
Meg Garratt-Reed
Meg Sullivan
Meghan Roh
Meghan Scott
Melanie Anne Egorin
Melissa Herd
Meredith Shaffer
Michael Beard
Michael Cabonargi
Michael Hash
Michael Naple
Michael Simon
Michael Walker
Miranda Lynch-Smith
Miriam Delphin-Rittmon
Miriam Maigadi
Molly T. Turco
Monica Bertagnolli
Nicki Lurie
Nikki Santos
Nils Daulaire, M.D.
Nora Super
Noelle Lee
Patrice Kunesh
Patricia J. Zettler
Paul R. Rodriguez
Peter Loge
ADM Rachel Levine
Rafael Benavides
Rebecca Haffajee
Rebecca Jones Gaston
Richard Frank
Richard Sorian
Rima J. Cohen
Robert Carey
Robert Gordon
Robert Otto Valdez, PhD
Robin Dunn Marcos
Robyn Patterson
Rory Gold
Rose Sullivan
Ruth Friedman
Sabrina Bousbar
Sally Howard
Sam Ames
Sam Bagenstos
Samira Jali Burns
Sarika Kasaraneni
Sara Lonardo
Sarah Baldauf
Sarah Coombs
Sarah Esty
Sarah Newman Boateng
Sean Bruna, PhD.
Shalini Wickramatilake
Shannon Rudisill
Sharon Lewis
Sherice Perry
Sherry Glied
Sima Ladjevardian
Sonia Chessen
Stacy Sanders
Stephanie Akpa
Stephanie Psaki
Stephen Cha
Stephen L. Rabin
Steven Lopez
Susan Kim
Sylvia Burwell
Tate Heuer
Thomas Francis
Trina Dutta
Veronica Jackson
Vicki Turetsky
Vikki Wachino
Vincent Bish
Wesley Thompson
Wil Yu
Will Jenkins
Xavier Becerra
Zachary Dembner
