Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staffers reviewing Elon Musk’s Neuralink were among those fired as part of widespread layoffs within the Agency.

Musk is in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is directing workforce cuts throughout numerous government agencies.

According to a Reuters report, the cuts affected 20 individuals within the FDA’s Office of Neurological and Physical Medicine devices, which includes several individuals reviewing Neuralink. 

The reviewers oversaw clinical trial applications by Neuralink and other companies developing brain-computer interface devices.

Reuter’s sources noted they did not believe the individuals were specifically targeted due to their involvement with Neuralink applications. 

Termination letters were given to many FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and National Institutes of Health (NIH) staffers over the weekend after President Donald Trump announced verbally his intent to let go of numerous government workers on Friday. 

The job cuts at the FDA hit individuals, most in their probationary period, who performed research and approvals on medical devices.  

THE LARGER TREND

DOGE was officially made part of the U.S. government through an executive order Trump signed on Jan. 20 renaming the U.S. Digital Service, which was created by President Barack Obama in 2014, as the U.S. DOGE Service. DOGE was established within the Executive Office of the President. 

Meanwhile, Neuralink has been under pressure from lawmakers for alleged animal deaths during testing.

In May 2023, eight members of Congress sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), which cited a previous letter by the group alleging “credible reports of possible Animal Welfare Act violations perpetrated by Neuralink.”

The lawmakers raised additional concerns due to a potential conflict of interest between the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The letter said the IACUC “appears to be composed almost exclusively of company employees with significant financial stakes in the very animal studies they are required to evaluate under the Animal Welfare Act.”

Additionally, the letter alleged that several IACUC members “report to the committee’s chairperson in their regular Neuralink roles, separate from the IACUC,” and those conflicts were not disclosed to the USDA. The lawmakers cited a Reuters article outlining the allegations.  

In September 2023, four U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requesting an investigation into whether Musk committed securities fraud by allegedly misleading investors about the safety of Neuralink’s brain implant. 

In December, Musk posted a letter on X, formerly Twitter, penned by his attorney and directed at SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who reopened an investigation into Neuralink. 

Musk mocked the SEC in a post, saying it was “just another weaponized institution doing political dirty work.”

The letter, published on Dec. 12, also alleged the SEC gave Musk a 48-hour settlement deadline to either “accept monetary payment or face charges on numerous counts” pertaining to his $44 billion Twitter takeover. 

The letter claimed the demand follows a multiyear investigation and six years of harassment of Musk by the SEC and its staff. 

Gensler’s term as SEC chair was set to expire in 2026, but he resigned on Trump’s inauguration day. 

It has been reported that Musk’s DOGE is on track to arrive at the SEC in the coming days as part of the Trump administration’s federal cost-cutting plans.