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Johns Hopkins University announced Thursday that it is forced to lay off more than 2,000 employees following the Trump administration’s major cuts to foreign aid funding. The cuts, totaling over $800 million in USAID funding, are impacting key programmes both locally in Baltimore and internationally.
“This is a difficult day for our entire community,” said the university in a statement, which noted the termination of crucial work in scientific research, healthcare, and global health projects. Of the 2,000 job cuts, 1,975 are tied to projects in 44 countries, while 247 positions are within the United States.
Several of Johns Hopkins’ major programmes, including the medical school, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Jhpiego—a global health nonprofit—are deeply affected by the reductions. Jhpiego, founded by the university more than five decades ago, focuses on improving healthcare in various nations.
The cuts make Johns Hopkins one of the universities most severely impacted by the reduction in federal funding, particularly for research. The university receives approximately $1 billion annually from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is involved in 600 clinical trials. It is also a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging these cuts.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has been responsible for distributing humanitarian aid globally, funds many of the university’s projects. In January, President Trump signed an executive order freezing foreign aid to reassess international spending, leading critics to warn that the reduction in USAID’s work could have devastating effects on millions worldwide.
