Press Releases

Today, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services, and Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Military and Foreign Affairs, sent a letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), urging the Secretary to halt his purge of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff and calling attention to the rising threat of contaminated food and foodborne illness as a result of the Trump-Musk Administration’s attacks on FDA staff and funding. 

“We write with concern that the Trump Administration’s decision to fire thousands of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff will cause rampant outbreaks of foodborne illness and make food products less safe for consumers.  Staff reductions like those championed by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk will undermine FDA’s ability to ensure the safety of our nation’s food supply,” wrote the Members.  “We request information pertaining to the Trump Administration’s decision to eliminate FDA staff responsible for monitoring the safety of our food supply and preventing foodborne illness.”

On March 24, 2025, HHS announced plans to purge 3,500 people from FDA, a 20% cut to the agency’s workforce.  These dramatic cuts include more than 170 FDA staff from the Office of Inspections and Investigations, despite the fact that food safety programs at FDA have been chronically underfunded for decades.  

In 2024, FDA employed only 443 food safety inspectors to inspect every food processing facility in its jurisdiction—far short of the 1,500 inspectors the agency estimates it would need to inspect 36,600 food facilities in the United States and abroad.   

 “We urge you to halt all further cuts to FDA personnel.  FDA workers protect the safety of our food and ensure that companies do not profit from lax oversight at the expense of American consumers.  FDA should continue to use every tool in its arsenal to protect our most vulnerable.  Cutting food safety personnel when foodborne illnesses are on the rise directly contradicts the agency’s mission of protecting public health,” concluded the Members. 

The Members requested that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. provide documents and information by April 22, 2025.

Click here to read the letter to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.