Wyden and King Demand Answers on Trump Firing of Medicare and Medicaid Workers
Mass Layoffs at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Which Administers Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program Will Have a Negative Impact on Americans’ Health Care, Senators Say
DOGE Effort to Recklessly Dismantle Federal Agencies Will Compound Threats to Americans’ Health Care Posed by Republican Plans to Slash Medicaid
Despite Secretary Kennedy’s Promise for ‘Radical Transparency,’ No Information from DOGE or Department of Health and Human Services About Scope of Layoffs
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Senator Angus King, I-Maine, today demanded answers from the Trump administration after reports of widespread firings at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
“We are concerned that these firings will have a direct and negative impact on the health care of millions of Americans,” Wyden and King wrote. “Cuts to this already understaffed agency will undermine the ability of CMS to effectively serve taxpayers and carry out its statutory obligations established by legislation passed by Congress. Given the wide-ranging impact that the work of CMS has on Americans’ access to health care, it is critical that the American people have accurate information about the staffing cuts at CMS and the agency’s current capacity to carry out its important work.”
The letter, sent to CMS Acting Administrator Stephanie Carlton, seeks information about the number of employees who have been fired, their roles, and how the agency determined which employees should be fired. The letter also requests information on further staffing reductions at the agency.
Wyden and King previously sent a letter with the Senate Democratic caucus to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seeking information about the scope and impact of firings across the entire department, which includes CMS.
The full letter can be found here.
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