WASHINGTON — Recently, an email was sent to the majority of the 80,000 federal employees at the Health and Human Services Department (HHS), who play crucial roles in areas such as disease research, food safety monitoring, and the management of Medicare and Medicaid. This communication offered them the chance to voluntarily resign with a financial incentive of up to $25,000 as part of the cost-reduction strategies introduced by President Donald Trump.

Employees will be able to start accepting this offer beginning Monday, with responses due by 5 p.m. on Friday. The email was distributed to personnel across the department, which includes significant agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), both located in Maryland.

This mass communication aimed at a diverse group of HHS employees comes just days before agency leaders are anticipated to announce plans for workforce reductions. The HHS is notably one of the costliest federal departments, operating with an annual budget close to $1.7 trillion, most of which is dedicated to healthcare services for the millions enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid.

The agency oversees health insurance for nearly half of the U.S. population, providing Medicare coverage for seniors and Medicaid for low-income individuals and those with disabilities.

As of Sunday, HHS had not provided any immediate feedback regarding the email.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is currently serving as Trump’s health secretary, has hinted at potential significant staff cuts. Last year, he made a commitment to eliminate 600 jobs at the NIH, the nation’s leading biomedical research institution. While these drastic reductions have yet to be enacted, he recently mentioned in an interview his plans to streamline operations at public health agencies.