The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reinstated all employees who were laid off during the recent government shutdown, a senior official revealed to a federal court in California on Friday.

On November 17, the agency’s Office of Human Resources sent an email to the 954 employees who had received “reduction in force” notices during the shutdown. The email informed them that these notices were revoked and instructed them to return to work on their next scheduled workday, according to a court filing by Thomas Nagy Jr., HHS’s deputy assistant secretary for human resources.

Nagy also noted that these 954 employees would be compensated with retroactive pay covering the entire duration of the shutdown, which lasted from October 1 to November 12, 2025.

The initial layoffs took place during the second week of the shutdown and were part of President Trump’s initiative to reduce the government workforce. Senior administration officials suggested that the layoffs were intended to exert pressure on Democrats, with over 4,000 government employees being let go in total.

While the layoffs primarily impacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they affected all divisions within the HHS.

The lawsuit was brought by more than a half dozen unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). 

Late last month, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California indefinitely blocked the Trump administration’s layoff efforts.  

The White House has been systematically chopping away at the federal health workforce, and agency staff who were brought back after the latest round of RIFs said they are anticipating being laid off again once the government funding agreement expires at the end of January.