The Trump administration has closed the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services office in downtown Seattle, along with four other regional hubs across the country, according to Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene’s office.
The Region 10 office in Columbia Center, serves Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska. Like the federal health agency’s nine other regional offices, the Northwest arm works with area organizations and academic institutions to establish relationships with local communities, according to HHS.
Now amid HHS plans to shrink the agency nationwide through thousands of layoffs and billions of dollars in cuts, the sprawling office space on the 15th floor looked all but abandoned Tuesday afternoon.
Desks sat empty, cleared of papers and personal effects. A custodian pushed a wheeled trash barrel.
One HHS employee who remained said almost everyone there was given a “reduction in force” notice when they got to work Tuesday, and fired.
Details from the agency were scant Tuesday. Even DelBene, who issued a statement denouncing the closure, was not quite sure when the office had closed.
The closure means the region is now left without yet another chunk of federal support for public health, a funding source that grows smaller every month as the Trump administration announces additional cuts. Promoting public health, connecting Washingtonians with affordable health coverage, preventing disease outbreaks and enforcing civil rights protections are all part of the work of the regional office, DelBene said in a statement.
“President Trump and Elon Musk are taking a hatchet job to HHS,” DelBene wrote, speaking of the president and of Musk’s unprecedented role in slashing government jobs and services. “… This doesn’t make America healthier or more efficient. This is an irresponsible decision that will harm public health in Washington and the Pacific Northwest.”
The news has not been communicated widely to the public, said Nick Martin, a spokesperson for the Medina Democrat. DelBene’s office was informed of the closure through her position on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees a health subcommittee, he added.
The shuttering essentially strips the region of any “on-the-ground support” and leaves local health departments and providers to “face many challenges in our region alone,” DelBene said in the statement.
No information was immediately available on how many employees worked in the HHS office, whether all their jobs had been eliminated or if any might transfer to other HHS sites.
A spokesperson for HHS did not respond to a request for comment.
The federal health agency, now helmed by vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., warned of these changes in an announcement last week, when Kennedy vowed to reduce the number of regional offices from 10 to five.
Those cuts include plans to lay off up to 10,000 researchers, scientists, doctors, support staff and senior leaders, many of whom have long guided national decisions on medical research, health trends and disease outbreaks, The Associated Press reported.
This week, HHS has also reportedly closed its San Francisco-based Region 9 office, which covers Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada, plus American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands and Republic of Palau.
“Make no mistake: the reported plans to restructure HHS and close the San Francisco regional office would directly harm our most vulnerable communities and make America sicker,” former House Speaker and California Rep. Nancy Pelosi said in a Tuesday statement.
According to DelBene’s office, HHS also eliminated offices in Boston, New York City and Chicago, as well as a branch of its Office of the General Counsel in Dallas. These hubs provide services to 22 states, five U.S. territories and three Compact of Free Association countries, her office said in a fact sheet.
Seattle Times staff reporter David Gutman contributed to this report.
