Johns Hopkins laying off more than 2,000 workers after dramatic cut in USAID funding

A sign stands in front of part of the Johns Hopkins Hospital complex, July 8, 2014, in Baltimore. Patrick Semansky/AP/File

Johns Hopkins University announced Thursday that it will be cutting more than 2,000 jobs after it lost $800 million in funding from the US Agency for International Development amid the Trump administration’s effort to significantly downsize the federal government.

The bulk of the layoffs at the top research university will impact its international employees. 1,975 employees across 44 countries have been cut, the university said in a statement, with another 247 jobs terminated in the US. Roughly 100 additional workers will be furloughed with reduced schedules.

“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,” the Maryland-based university said, adding that it was proud of the work its employees have done “to care for mothers and infants, fight disease, provide clean drinking water, and advance countless other critical, life-saving efforts around the world.”

The job cuts are “the largest layoffs in the university’s history,” according to a Hopkins spokesperson, spanning its schools of medicine and public health, its Center for Communication Programs – which leads the university’s messaging around public health – and Jhpiego, an affiliated nonprofit that focuses on maternal health and disease prevention.

The employees whose jobs were cut will receive at least a 60-day notice before their layoff takes effect.

Thursday’s layoffs come as President Donald Trump is continuing his efforts to reshape the federal government, which includes gutting USAID. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced earlier this week that the Trump administration is canceling 83% of programs at the agency and intends to fold its remaining programs under the State Department.

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Johns Hopkins is a leading research institution located in Baltimore that gets roughly 50% of its funding from the work it does “on behalf of the federal government,” according to a message university president Ronald Daniels sent to the Johns Hopkins community last week.

Daniels warned in the message that the dramatic cut in USAID funding, will result in “impacts to budgets, personnel, and programs.” He also announced that the university was “in the process of winding down USAID grant-related activities in Baltimore and internationally.”

“Given what we are seeing, it is necessary to plan for challenges ahead,” Daniels continued, adding, “We have little choice but to reduce some of our work in response to the slowing and stopping of grants and to adjust to an evolving legal landscape.”

John Hopkins’ job cuts and downsizing of its research efforts come as higher education institutions across the country are uneasy about the future of federal funding in the second Trump administration.

Last week, the Trump administration pulled $400 million from Columbia University, canceling grants and contracts because of what the government described as the Ivy League school’s failure to squelch antisemitism on campus.

The National Institutes of Health, which provides grants to research institutions, also moved last month to lower the maximum payments institutions can ask for to cover infrastructure costs such as facilities and maintenance – a push scientists say could be devastating for the country’s position as a research leader. Several universities, including Johns Hopkins, filed a lawsuit last month to pause the funding cuts from NIH.

This story has been updated with additional details.

The Associated Press and CNN’s Katherine Dillinger contributed to this report.

By Kaanita Iyer, CNN