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Tag: Lays

DOGE lays off 3,600 probationary HHS employees
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Government Efficiency terminated employment for 3,600 probationary Health and Human Services employees on Friday — but went through a careful process to exclude those who were serving in specialized or critical roles.

More than half of the agency’s probationary employees were retained.

The cuts are estimated to save about $600 million in taxpayer dollars annually.

DOGE SAYS IT DUG UP ANOTHER $1.9 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY ‘MISPLACED’ BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump meets with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House, on Thursday, Feb. 13. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Probationary employees who were excluded from layoffs include:
- Employees working on refugee and resettlement within the Administration of Children and Families (ACF)
- Employees working on emergency preparedness and response within Administration for Strategy Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other divisions of HHS
- Scientists conducting research at the CDC and National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Frontline healthcare providers at the Indian Health Service (HIS)
- Employees working on Medicare and Medicaid at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
- Employees reviewing and approving drugs or conducting inspections at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
DOGE identified critical employees by first considering key functions of HHS — frontline healthcare providers, scientists conducting innovative research, personnel responding to emergencies – followed by employee roles, including work history, background, and job title screenings.

NEW SEN. JIM JUSTICE ‘ABSOLUTELY’ SHOCKED BY DEMOCRATS’ RESPONSE TO ELON MUSK’S DOGE REVELATIONS

Demonstrators rally in support of federal workers outside the Department of Health and Human Services, Friday, Feb. 14, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

“In many cases where there was a lack of clarity, we worked directly with folks who either knew the employees or knew the work of the division to clarify the exact work they were doing,” a Trump administration official said.

While the exact process will differ with each federal agency DOGE examines, key functions, specialized responsibilities, and individual roles will be considered for each workforce-cutting analysis. HHS received special attention — especially within the CDC, with meticulous consideration of research functions, lab work, and outbreak surveillance and response.

“Healthcare is obviously an important goal for the new Secretary, for the President,” the official said. “We want to make the government more efficient and want to reduce the size of the federal workforce, but we also want to make sure we’re very thoughtful about the critical functions that the government needs to perform.”

Officials said DOGE does not begin any evaluation with any predetermined cost-cutting goal, and there is no official order through which federal agencies are lining up for examination.

People rally against the policies of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 12. (AP/Jose Luis Magana)

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“Typically, contracts and grants are the two main mechanisms the federal government has for dispersing funds,” the official told Fox News. “And then we’re also thinking about regulations. Every agency is different, but the things we’re looking at are pretty similar across every agency.”

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.

Jacqui Heinrich currently serves as a Senior White House correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). She joined the network in September 2018 and is based out of Washington D.C.
February 15, 2025
‘Deregulatory flavor’: JD Vance lays out vision in Paris for the future of AI under Trump

Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) systems must not become tainted with “ideological bias” and cautioned against coordinating with “hostile foreign adversaries” on AI capabilities.

Vance appeared Tuesday at the AI Action Summit in Paris, where world leaders, top tech executives and policymakers teamed up to hash out tech policy and its intersection with global security, economics and governance. The appearance marked his first foreign trip as vice president.

While the Trump administration has signaled it plans to take an approach that favors deregulation of AI, Vance’s appearance at the summit coincides with recent attempts from the European Union to enforce harsher regulations aimed at promoting greater safety.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and the UK abstained from signing an international document at the conference signed by 60 other countries that aims to prioritize “ensuring AI is open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy.” It was immediately unclear why both countries chose not to sign the document.

Here is what is known from Vance’s remarks about the Trump administration’s priorities for the future of AI. First, Vance called for AI systems developed in the U.S. to remain free of “ideological bias” and vowed that the U.S. would “never restrict our citizens’ right to free speech.”

That is because Vance said he trusted Americans to create their own thoughts and opinions, absorb information and exchange those thoughts in the “open marketplace of ideas.”

VANCE TELLS WORLD LEADERS AI MUST BE ‘FREE FROM IDEOLOGICAL BIAS,’ AMERICAN TECH WON’T BE CENSORSHIP TOOL

Vice President JD Vance delivers a speech during the plenary session of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris on Feb. 11, 2025. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

“We feel very strongly that AI must remain free from ideological bias and that American AI will not be co-opted into a tool for authoritarian censorship,” Vance said Tuesday.

Vance also pushed for a “deregulatory flavor” to emerge at the conference while cautioning against the pitfalls of “excessive regulation” that could hamper a transformative industry. He also vowed that the U.S. would back pro-growth AI policies.

“We believe that excessive regulation of the AI sector could kill a transformative industry just as it’s taking off, and we’ll make every effort to encourage pro-growth AI policies and I’d like to see that deregulatory flavor making its way into a lot of the conversations at this conference,” he said.

Other world leaders who attended the AI Action Summit include French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister Shri Modi and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing.

Vance also issued a warning to other foreign governments about “tightening the screws” on U.S. tech companies with international footprints, claiming the Trump administration would not tolerate such limitations. He also cautioned against working with adversaries who have “weaponized A.I. software to rewrite history, surveil users and censor speech.”

Vance said Tuesday that the U.S. will block such efforts, and ensure that American AI and chip technology is protected from theft and misuse.

ELON MUSK AND TECH LEADER SAM ALTMAN GET INTO WAR OF WORDS OVER AI INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT

Vice President JD Vance’s comments coincide with some recent actions from the administration of President Donald Trump to advance AI in the U.S.

“I would also remind our international friends here today that partnering with such regimes — it never pays off in the long term,” Vance said.

While Vance said that the U.S. wants to partner with other nations on this front, Macron said Europe could take a “third way” approach in AI innovation and not rely on either the U.S. or China. Macron also called for enhanced “international governance” on AI policy.

“We want a fair and open access to these innovations for the whole planet,” Macron said.

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Vance’s comments coincide with some recent actions from the Trump administration to advance AI in the U.S.

In January, Trump unveiled a new $500 billion AI infrastructure project called Stargate, a datacenter joint venture between investment holding company Softbank, and tech companies OpenAI and Oracle that Trump labeled the “largest AI infrastructure project in history.”

The project includes an initial investment of $100 billion that is slated to grow to $500 billion over Trump’s term in office, and will build “colossal” data centers in the U.S. to power AI.

The Associated Press and Fox News’ Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

February 11, 2025
Lay’s recall of classic chips in 2 states classified at highest risk level, FDA warns it could cause ‘death’

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Frito-Lay has recalled its Lay’s Classic Potato Chips in Oregon and Washington state due to undeclared milk that may be in the product that could be fatal if consumed by someone with an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk.

The Food and Drug Administration announced last month a recall of a limited number of 13 oz. bags of Lay’s Classic Potato Chips over concerns that the product may contain undeclared milk. No other Lay’s products, flavors, sizes or variety packs have been recalled.

“Those with an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the recalled product,” the FDA said on Dec. 16.

BELOVED SNACK BRAND RECALLS ‘LIMITED’ NUMBER OF POPULAR POTATO CHIP BAGS DUE TO UNDECLARED ALLERGIN: FDA

Lay’s potato chips pack seen in a Target superstore. (Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)

On Monday, the FDA updated its guidance, classifying it under a Class 1 recall — its highest risk classification — which means exposure or consumption of the chips could cause “serious adverse health consequences or death,” according to Newsweek.

The chips were given the high level classification because milk is one of the FDA’s eight “major food allergens,” which means it is one of the products that can lead to hives, cramps, dizziness, swollen vocal cords and even unconsciousness if someone with an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk consumes it.

Consumers would have been able to purchase these chips in Oregon and Washington state as early as November 3. The recalled chips were distributed to certain retail stores and e-commerce distributors.

Frito-Lay potato chip snacks in a supermarket in New York on Thursday, February 12, 2015. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

Anyone in the two states with Lay’s chips that have both a “guaranteed fresh” date of February 11 and a manufacturing code of either “6462307xx” or “6463307xx” should discard the chips immediately, especially if someone in their household has a milk allergy.

Frito-Lay said it was alerted to the undeclared milk after being contacted by a customer.

MORE THAN 500,000 ELECTRIC SPACE HEATERS RECALLED DUE TO OVERHEATING CONCERNS

Lay’s packaging seen at the grocery store in Las Vegas, United States. (Getty Images / Getty Images)

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The company said no allergic reactions related to this recall have been reported.

January 29, 2025