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 October 20, 2025

Trump targets office pushing progressive health policies during shutdown

The Trump administration swings the budget axe at a federal office accused of peddling progressive agendas.

The Trump team is slashing away at the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issuing reduction-in-force notices to roughly 30 employees on Oct. 10, 2025, while a government shutdown looms large after funding lapsed on Oct. 1, 2025.

Before the shutdown deadline, the Office of Management and Budget directed agencies to draft plans for staff cuts in programs either unfunded or out of step with administration goals.

Shutdown sparks staffing cuts at OPA

OPA, tasked with advancing reproductive health and adolescent well-being through clinical services and research, found itself in the crosshairs for allegedly prioritizing pregnancy prevention over broader family planning.

Critics have long argued that OPA has veered into promoting policies tied to gender ideology and abortion access, often funneling Title X grants—meant for family planning and infertility services—to organizations like Planned Parenthood affiliates.

While Title X legally bars direct abortion funding, rules under the prior administration mandated that most projects offer abortion referrals upon request, a shift from earlier restrictions.

Policy shifts and progressive pushback

Adding fuel to the fire, regulations finalized in October 2021 blocked Title X projects from requiring parental consent for minors seeking services, though Texas successfully challenged this in court by 2024, prompting HHS to pause enforcement there.

Under the previous administration, OPA materials endorsed “gender-affirming care” for minors as essential, while grants supported groups distributing explicit content and promoting certain ideological views to young people.

In a sharp pivot, HHS in July 2025 barred grantees of OPA’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program from using federal funds for content tied to gender ideology or other controversial topics, signaling a clear break from past practices.

Budget battles and political gridlock

The Trump administration didn’t stop at trimming staff; it’s proposed wiping OPA off the map entirely in its 2026 budget plan, leaving just a handful of employees to handle legally mandated tasks.

“The Office of Population Affairs has long used taxpayer dollars to advance the leftist agenda targeting children and the unborn,” said Republican Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Well, if the shoe fits, one might wonder how an office meant to support family planning became a lightning rod for ideological crusades.

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

That’s a hefty tab for taxpayers, especially when the return on investment seems to be more about politics than public health.

Judicial roadblocks and future fights

Meanwhile, the broader shutdown saga unfolded as Senate Democrats rejected a bipartisan spending bill on Oct. 1, 2025, tying their support to $1.5 trillion in new spending for progressive priorities and curbs on presidential fund rescission powers.

Though a federal judge recently put a temporary hold on the administration’s broader plan to dismiss thousands of federal workers during the shutdown, HHS has paused implementing these staff cuts for now, leaving OPA’s fate in limbo.

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