The Food and Drug Administration is reinstating telework for staff who review drugs, medical devices, and tobacco, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
Review staff and supervisors are now allowed to resume telework at least two days a week, according to an internal email obtained by the AP.The move reverses a jarring return-to-office decree by the Trump administration, which it used to spur resignations from federal employees.
Now, after a wave of such resignations and a brutal round of layoffs that targeted about 3,500 staff, the move to restore some telework appears aimed at keeping the remaining talent amid fears that the agency's review capabilities are at risk of collapse.The cut of 3,500 staff is a loss of about 19 percent of the agency's workforce, and staffers told the AP that lower-level employees are "pouring" out of the agency amid the Trump administration's actions.
Entire offices responsible for FDA policies and regulations have been shuttered.
Most of the agency's communication staff have been wiped out, as well as teams that support food inspectors and investigators, the AP reported.Reviewers are critical staff with unique features.
Staff who review new potential drugs, medical devices, and tobacco products are largely funded by user feesfees that companies pay the FDA to review their products efficiently.
Nearly half the FDAs $7 billion budget comes from these fees, and 70 percent of the FDA's drug program is funded by them.