Johns Hopkins to slash nearly 2,000 jobs after losing $800 million in federal grants
Hopkins' medical school; the Bloomberg School of Public Health, including its Center for Communication Programs; and JHPIEGO, the university's health initiative that focuses on global public health, will be affected by the cuts. USAID was the main funder for both JHPIEGO and CCP.
'This is a difficult day for our entire community. The termination of more than $800 million in USAID funding is now forcing us to wind down critical work here in Baltimore and internationally,' Hopkins' spokesperson said in a statement.
The Trump administration, through advisor Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, is slashing federal spending across agencies in an effort to end wasteful spending. Such cuts have an outsized effect on Hopkins, which comes in first of all universities in federally funded research. By extension, those cuts affect Baltimore and Maryland, where Hopkins is the city and state's largest largest private employer. Hopkins says it accounts for more than $15 billion in economic output in the state.
'It is difficult to overstate the significance of Johns Hopkins University as a cornerstone of Maryland's economy,' Carter Elliott IV, spokesman for Gov. Wes Moore, said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun earlier this week. 'Its influence extends far beyond Baltimore, shaping industries across the state and driving Maryland's reputation as a global leader in research, healthcare, and education.'
In the statement, the Hopkins spokesperson said 'the elimination of foreign aid funding has led to the loss of 1,975 positions in 44 countries internationally and 247 in the United States in the affected programs. An additional 29 international and 78 domestic employees will be furloughed with a reduced schedule.'
Employees in the United states will have at least two months advance notice before their positions are cut or furloughed, and the university said it is 'providing comprehensive support with additional benefits, assistance, and resources to help employees navigate this transition and explore new opportunities.'
For international employees, the university said it 'will be complying with local employment laws.'
With almost half its funding coming from the federal government, the university's president warned earlier this month that Hopkins faced drastic cuts in its research and medical work at home and abroad as a result of the Trump administration's slashing of spending.
Referencing a 'cascade of executive orders and agency actions,' Johns Hopkins President Ron Daniels wrote in a letter that the Baltimore-based institution, the nation's first research university, was bracing for 'systemwide shocks.'
'Cuts to federal research will affect research faculty, students, and staff and will ripple through our university,' Daniels wrote. 'Budgets, personnel, and programs' could all be impacted, he said.
In its statement Thursday, the Hopkins spokesperson said the university 'is immensely proud of the work done by our colleagues in Jhpiego, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the School of Medicine to care for mothers and infants, fight disease, provide clean drinking water, and advance countless other critical, life-saving efforts around the world.'
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