Officials in US health agencies fear ‘people will get sick’ as programmes are slashed and scientists are fired under the constant surveillance of DOGE

Zoom meetings are avoided out of fear they are being secretly recorded. Conversations about budgets and policies are held in soundproof offices, as if they were matters of national security. Many employees carry small notebooks with them, jotting down notes instead of logging them on a computer. The desks of several sacked colleagues are empty — save for the few who have left family photos and possessions behind in case a judge rules they can return.

“There is a constant sense that we’re being watched and monitored,” the source said. “DOGE leadership are located several floors above but they have this omnipotent presence … We’re counted when we swipe our badges into the building.”