Trump Administration Decimates Birth Control Office in Layoffs

The Trump administration has targeted a federal office that oversees a $300 million family planning program for layoffs, raising fears that it is effectively ending an initiative that provides contraception for millions of low-income women, according to three people with knowledge of the events.

The decimation of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs — part of a larger effort by President Trump to fire federal employees during the government shutdown — threatens a program that has existed for over 50 years and also offers testing for sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy, as well as basic infertility care.

The layoffs targeting the office represent one of the most striking examples yet of Mr. Trump’s vow to fire people in an effort to purge the government of what he has called “Democrat programs” during the shutdown, a stark departure from past practice that has raised major legal and constitutional questions.

Almost everyone in the office was locked out of their government emails and computers on Friday, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution. On Wednesday afternoon, several staff members who had inquired about their employment status received messages from human resources, letting them know that staff members who had been shut out of their email were subject to layoffs, known in government terms as a reduction in force.

The employees were informed that emails notifying them of the layoffs were sent late Friday afternoon — when they had already been locked out of their accounts, according to messages reviewed by The New York Times.

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from conducting widespread layoffs of federal employees during the shutdown, but it was still unclear on Wednesday evening which employees were covered by the injunction.