HHS tech purge leaves digital infrastructure in limbo as leadership exits

As HHS moves eliminates 20,000 positions across the department, sweeping cuts to its IT workforce are creating concern over the integrity of its digital infrastructure and critical systems. According to Nextgov/FCW, FDA placed most of its Office of Digital Transformation leadership—its CIO, CTO, and key executives—on administrative leave as of 1 April 2025. Staff say they’ve been told the group will be separated by 2 June, and the office has already lost roughly 40 percent of its workforce.

“All strategy, design, and governance capabilities have been eliminated,” said one current FDA employee. “Only tactical operations and cybersecurity remain.”

Cuts are also hitting the department-wide HHS OCIO, including layoffs within the Office of Enterprise Services, which managed essential IT services such as software licensing and telecom. Employees report the entire office was laid off, leaving no one to oversee core systems like payroll or cloud infrastructure.

HHS leadership claims the layoffs target redundant roles as part of a broader consolidation from twenty-eight to fifteen divisions. A spokesperson defended the move, noting HHS previously had forty-one CIOs, despite only twenty-eight divisions. Some say centralizing IT with so few remaining personnel is impractical.

The incoming CTO—or possibly CIO—Clark Minor, a former Palantir executive, has stepped into a senior role, even as outgoing CIO Jennifer Wendel prepares to depart at month’s end.

“There’s no acquisition authority, no fiscal oversight, and no strategic continuity,” one employee warned. “Everything that enables the department’s digital backbone is at risk.”