Trump Admin Drains HHS Bureaucracy Pushing Abortion and ‘Gender-Affirming’ Care

The Trump administration has begun cutting staff at the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs (OPA), an agency long criticized by conservatives for promoting abortion access and gender ideology under previous leadership.

According to individuals familiar with the matter, roughly 30 OPA employees were issued reduction-in-force notices on Oct. 10.

GREAT NEWS 🏆

The Office of Population Affairs, the deviant Agency responsible for funding Planned Parenthood…has been SHUT DOWN. They supported sexually mutilating and sterilizing children. pic.twitter.com/oa93JKYAC6

— Liz Churchill (@liz_churchill10) October 14, 2025

The move effectively sidelined most of the office’s personnel and came after the White House warned that staffing reductions would proceed if Senate Democrats continued to block government funding.

OPA’s stated mission is to advance “reproductive health outcomes and adolescent health and wellbeing by supporting high-quality clinical services, evidence-based and innovative programs, rigorous research and evaluation.”

This Could Be the Most Important Video Gun Owners Watch All Year

However, administration officials have argued that the office has been used to fund and promote policies inconsistent with the administration’s priorities, particularly regarding abortion and gender programs.

Before the Oct. 1 shutdown, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) instructed agencies to prepare reduction-in-force plans for employees working in programs lacking a current funding source or misaligned with the president’s policy objectives.

OPA was one of the targeted offices, officials said, due to its historical role in awarding grants to organizations advocating for gender ideology and abortion-related services.

OPA oversees the Title X family planning program under the Public Health Service Act, which funds projects offering a “broad range of acceptable and effective family planning methods and related preventive health services.”

While the statute bars federal funds from directly financing abortions, the Biden-Harris administration reversed a prior rule that prohibited Title X grantees from referring clients for abortion services.

Under the new rule, Title X recipients are required to provide such referrals upon request.

Affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, have received millions of dollars in Title X grants over the years.

Regulations finalized in October 2021 also prohibited Title X projects from requiring parental consent or notification when minors seek or receive services.

Texas challenged that rule in court in 2024, prompting HHS to suspend its enforcement within the state.

Under the Biden-Harris administration, individuals connected to pro-abortion and gender-activist organizations were hired into OPA.

At least one of those employees who remained in place after the Trump administration returned to power was among those impacted by the recent staff cuts, according to individuals familiar with the decision.

OPA under the prior administration published materials describing “gender-affirming care” for minors as “crucial to overall health and well-being.”

The same office issued grants to organizations promoting gender ideology to adolescents and distributing sexual content to youth.

In July, HHS issued guidance clarifying that recipients of grants under OPA’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program are prohibited from using federal funds for materials promoting gender ideology, LGBTQIA+ issues, or “anti-American ideologies.”

A small number of employees remain at OPA to perform legally required duties, according to officials.

The administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal calls for eliminating the office entirely, continuing a broader effort to streamline federal agencies and eliminate programs deemed unnecessary or politically driven.

“HHS under the Biden administration became a bloated bureaucracy, growing its budget by 38% and its workforce by 17%,” said Rich Danker, assistant secretary for public affairs at HHS, in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, who introduced an amendment in 2023 to cut funding for the OPA, praised the administration’s action.

“The Office of Population Affairs has long used taxpayer dollars to advance the leftist agenda targeting children and the unborn,” Miller said.

“I applaud the Trump Administration’s efforts to root out far-left programs in the federal government that undermine the very fabric of our country.”

🚨Rep. Miller: “The Office of Population Affairs has long used taxpayer dollars to advance the leftist agenda targeting children and the unborn. I applaud the Trump Administration’s efforts to root out far-left programs in the federal government that undermine the very fabric of… pic.twitter.com/l7h0xwArfG

— Rep. Mary Miller (@RepMaryMiller) October 18, 2025

OMB Director Russ Vought, who has advocated for reducing the size of the federal government, has played a key role in implementing the reductions in force across multiple agencies since the beginning of President Trump’s second term.

Whether the layoffs at OPA become permanent remains uncertain.

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the administration’s plan to dismiss thousands of federal employees during the ongoing funding standoff.

Danker said HHS “is not currently taking actions to implement or administer its RIFs” until further legal clarification.

The government partially shut down on Oct. 1 after most Senate Democrats rejected a bipartisan continuing resolution that would have kept federal operations running.

Democrats have demanded $1.5 trillion in new spending and restrictions on the president’s authority to rescind previously approved funds as part of negotiations to reopen the government.