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The US’ famed Johns Hopkins University announced that it will lay off more than 2,000 employees following an $800 million cut in funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), as the Trump administration continues its controversial effort to downsize the government while bypassing Congress, said local media.
The majority of the layoffs will affect the top-tier university’s international workforce, and a total of 1,975 employees across 44 countries will lose their jobs, while 247 positions will be eliminated in the US, the university said in a statement, CNN reported Thursday.
Additionally, about 100 workers will be furloughed with reduced schedules.
"This is a difficult day for our entire community," the university, based in the state of Maryland, said in a statement quoted by CNN.
It added that the loss of USAID funding is forcing Johns Hopkins "to wind down critical work here in Baltimore and internationally," affecting programs focused on maternal and infant health, disease prevention, and clean water access.
A university spokesperson described the move as "the largest layoffs in the university’s history."
The cuts will impact Johns Hopkins’ schools of medicine and public health, its Center for Communication Programs, and Jhpiego, a nonprofit affiliated with the university that specializes in maternal health and disease prevention.
Employees affected by the layoffs will receive at least a 60-day notice before the terminations take effect.
The funding cuts come as President Donald Trump advances efforts to restructure the federal government, including deep reductions at USAID – a move controversially taken without going through Congress, which under the US Constitution has sole “power of the purse.”
-US higher learning faces uncertainty
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced earlier this week that the administration will cancel 83% of USAID programs and transfer the remaining initiatives under the State Department.
Johns Hopkins, a leading research institution based in Baltimore, receives nearly 50% of its funding from federal government contracts, according Ronald Daniels, the university’s president.
In a message to the Johns Hopkins community last week, Daniels warned that the USAID funding loss would impact "budgets, personnel, and programs" and that the university was already in the process of shutting down USAID grant-related projects.
"Given what we are seeing, it is necessary to plan for challenges ahead," Daniels said, adding that Johns Hopkins has "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."
The job cuts at Johns Hopkins come at a time when higher education institutions across the US face growing uncertainty over federal funding under the Trump administration.
Last week, the government withdrew $400 million in funding from New York’s Columbia University, citing the school’s alleged failure to curb antisemitism on campus.
In addition, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced last month that it would lower the maximum payments institutions can request to cover infrastructure costs, including facility maintenance.
Scientists have warned that the change could significantly impact the country’s position as a global leader in research, seemingly undercutting the Trump administration’s stated goal of “Make America great again.”
Several universities, including Johns Hopkins, have filed a lawsuit seeking to pause the NIH funding cuts.