'I got DOGE'd': FDA employee speaks out after being laid off via 5:00 AM email in revealing LinkedIn post

For nearly four years, Alex Saint dedicated her career to protecting the health and safety of millions of Americans. As a health communications specialist at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), she worked on some of the most pressing public health crises, from drug shortages to pandemic responses. Then, at 5:14 a.m. on a seemingly ordinary Tuesday morning, an email landed in her inbox, bluntly informing her that she was out of a job.

Saint was one of 10,000 federal employees unceremoniously let go as part of a sweeping overhaul of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), spearheaded by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. under the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. The move, framed as an effort to “streamline” government operations, has ignited outrage, confusion, and fear over what it means for public health in the United States.

“I don’t see how this benefits Americans at all,” Saint lamented. “My position wasn’t even funded by taxpayer dollars. Nobody saved money by letting me go. But now, the crucial work my colleagues and I did to keep people safe simply won’t get done.”

The DOGE Axe Falls on Public Health

The restructuring of HHS has been nothing short of seismic. Announced on March 27, the plan slashed one-fourth of the department’s workforce, reducing it from 82,000 to 62,000 employees. Under the guise of eliminating “waste,” the cuts have decimated key public health agencies:

• The FDA, which ensures the safety of medications and food, lost 3,500 employees.
• The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a global leader in medical research, took a 1,200-person hit.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), responsible for monitoring infectious disease outbreaks, saw 2,400 jobs vanish.
• Even the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which administers health programs for millions, lost 300 workers.

Kennedy Jr. defended the decision, calling it a necessary measure to cut government bloat. “Over time, bureaucracies like HHS become wasteful and inefficient, even when most of their staff are dedicated and competent civil servants,” he stated. “This overhaul is a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves.”

But for those who have spent their careers on the frontlines of public health, it doesn’t feel like a win.

HHS is cutting 10k jobs across the FDA, CDC, NIH, and CMS.

So far DOGE is impacting academic medical centers and Medicaid healthcare-wise. pic.twitter.com/J0Zuywhd70

— Blake Madden 🏥 (@B_Madden4) March 27, 2025

“We’re Not a Line Item. We’re Real People.”

Saint’s frustration isn’t just personal—it’s about what these mass layoffs mean for the American public.

From spearheading FDA’s communication strategy in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation of a major IV production facility to helping doctors safely prescribe Paxlovid during the pandemic, her work was crucial. But one of her proudest achievements was something few Americans ever heard about: stopping a poisoned batch of children’s medicine from reaching U.S. shelves.

During the “tripledemic” of 2022-2023, as flu, RSV, and COVID-19 overwhelmed hospitals, parents struggled to find over-the-counter medicine for their sick children. At the same time, a dangerous new crisis was unfolding abroad. An overseas manufacturer, cutting corners to save costs, had used diethylene glycol (DEG)—a deadly chemical also known as antifreeze—as a sweetener in children’s medicine.

The result was a global catastrophe. Over 300 children, most under the age of five, died from poisoning. Yet, not a single American child was affected.

Why? Because Saint and her colleagues at the FDA worked tirelessly behind the scenes. They heightened inspections, increased scrutiny on imports, and launched awareness campaigns to prevent desperate parents from buying medicine from unreliable sources. Their efforts went unnoticed by the public—but they saved lives.

Now, Saint wonders: Who will stop the next crisis?

Locked Out, Laid Off, and Left in the Cold

Saint was fortunate enough to receive an email about her termination. Others weren’t so lucky.

Some FDA employees only discovered they had been laid off when they arrived at work and found their security badges no longer worked. Federal News Network described the situation as “humiliating and degrading,” with longtime public servants escorted out like criminals.

For Saint, the devastation is both professional and personal. With a husband in the private sector and two young children in daycare, the financial impact is daunting. But more than that, she is furious at how these layoffs undermine public health.

“This isn’t just about jobs,” she said. “It’s about the work that will now go undone. We’re not a line item. We’re real people.”

The Fallout: A Public Health Crisis in the Making?

The timing of the layoffs couldn’t be worse. America is already grappling with rising cases of measles and a growing bird flu outbreak. With fewer experts monitoring disease outbreaks, regulating drug safety, and ensuring emergency preparedness, many fear these crises will only worsen.

Meanwhile, Saint is taking her fight to the Merit Systems Protection Board, hoping to challenge her termination. She’s also part of the National Treasury Employees Union, which is working to reverse the layoffs.

In a viral LinkedIn post, she summed up the absurdity of it all:

“I got DOGE’d at FDA and didn’t even get a lousy t-shirt.”

For the thousands of government workers left jobless overnight, the joke is bitter. But for millions of Americans now living in a country with a gutted health safety net, it’s no laughing matter.