REGIONAL- The latest round of on-again, off-again firings within the federal government have left some confusion surrounding staffing at the federally funded Indian Health Services, or IHS. Last Friday, almost 1,000 probationary employees of the service were fired as part of President Donald Trump’s purge of federal employees, but within hours, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. backpedaled from the action and rescinded the layoffs.
Layoffs were initially expected to include 2,200 IHS workers, of whom 1,400 provide direct patient care, including more than 90 physicians, 350 nurses, at least 25 nurse practitioners, nearly 20 dentists, 43 dental assistants, more than 85 pharmacists, 45 lab technicians, 25 hospital social workers, 45 lab technicians, nearly 130 medical assistants, as well as paramedics, dieticians, behavioral health workers, hospital food service workers, and nursing assistants.
But that number was reduced to 950, and Kennedy reversed those terminations on Friday out of concern over their impact on Native communities, just hours after employees were notified by phone that they had been fired.
“The Indian Health Service has always been treated as the redheaded stepchild at HHS,” Kennedy said in a statement emailed to Native News Online. “My father often complained that IHS was chronically understaffed and underfunded. President Trump wants me to rectify this sad history. Indians suffer the highest level of chronic disease of any demographic. IHS will be a priority over the next four years. President Trump wants me to end the chronic disease epidemic beginning in Indian country.”
Multiple Native health and social service organizations petitioned the administration for the restoration of the workers.
The reversal comes on the heels of another embarrassing set of terminations last week of up to 350 workers at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), an agency within the Energy Department that oversees the nuclear weapons stockpile.
Rob Plonski, a deputy division director with the NNSA, confirmed the firings in a post to LinkedIn and spoke out against the decision.
“The mission of NNSA is not simply about maintaining weapons – it’s about ensuring readiness, modernization, and accountability in a highly complex and evolving geopolitical landscape,” Plonski wrote. “Cutting the federal workforce responsible for these functions may be seen as reckless at best and opportunistic at worst.”
Administration officials have been trying to rehire the affected NNSA staff, although they were having difficulty because they did not have current contact information for many of them.
And on Tuesday, NBC News reported that the Department of Agriculture had accidentally fired “several” people who were working on the government’s response to the H5N1 avian flu epidemic.
“Although several positions supporting (bird flu efforts) were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” a USDA spokesperson said in a statement.
The administration’s rush to produce budget-cutting results by firing probationary federal workers has come without adequate review of what many, if not most, of those workers do, causing the mistaken firings of workers deemed critical to their agencies’ missions.
Pending impacts on Native Americans
When Trump attempted to freeze all federal grants and loans shortly after taking office, concerns were raised about 638 contracts the government has with Native tribes. Although the order was later rescinded, many tribes continue to report difficulties accessing their funds through electronic portals at the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service.
Some tribes can temporarily rely on other financial sources, but there is no guarantee they will be reimbursed. Funding disbursement varies: some tribes receive full-year allocations at the beginning of the fiscal year, while others, such as those receiving Housing and Urban Development funds, get monthly disbursements.
Cuts of 2,600 employees at the Department of the Interior will also have direct impact on Native tribes. The Bureau of Indian Education was expected to lose 40 employees, and tribal colleges face staffing cuts that could impact their accreditation.
The Trump administration’s federal employee buyout program also threatens tribes that get direct services from the government, as there is no assurance that doctors and other essential staff who accept buyouts will be replaced.
Tribal leaders, including those at Bois Forte, are still assessing the impact of the administration’s decisions. There are concerns that the administration’s actions stem from a lack of understanding of tribal sovereignty and the federal trust responsibility. Notably, the position of Tribal Advisor to the Office of Management and Budget remains unfilled, leaving tribes without a direct advocate in federal budget discussions.
In response, tribal organizations, including the National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund, have sent letters to the administration urging the U.S. government to uphold its trust and treaty obligations.

MPR News 89.3FM and 92.5FM, and ICT contributed to this article