Washington DC - Most of the 80,000 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have been sent a $25,000 buyout offer as part of Donald Trump's sweeping government cuts.

Workers have from Monday through 5:00 PM Friday to accept the buyout deal, the Associated Press reported.

The offer was sent by email to staff across the department, including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The news came just days before federal agencies are due to present reduction-in-force plans, to be submitted by March 13.

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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News' Laura Ingraham last month that he has "a list in my head" for potential firings at the agency, adding that he would focus primarily on those who had "made really bad decisions."

"If you’ve been involved in good science – you have nothing to worry about. If you care about public health, you’ve got nothing to worry about," Kennedy said at the time.

In a matter of weeks, the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), helmed by unelected billionaire Elon Musk, have moved to strip thousands of federal employees of their jobs, including at the CDC, NIH, and FDA.

The latest impending workforce reductions have sparked fears for public health amid the deadly measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico and threats to cut Medicaid funding in the federal budget.