President Donald Trump has been clear about his intent to use the government shutdown as an opportunity to reduce the size of the federal workforce, particularly through mass layoffs and the elimination of certain Democrat-favored programs.

Last week, the cuts included the Office of Population Affairs, which was effectively shut down after nearly all of its staff received layoff notices, according to Breitbart.

Part of the Department of Health and Human Services, the dystopian-sounding program should have been more appropriately named the Office of Population Control, as its main focus in recent years has been promoting abortions and sterilizations through sex change operations and treatments for minor children.

Nearly everyone let go

The New York Times was the first to report this week about the Trump administration's "decimation" of the Office of Population Affairs last Friday, when nearly all of its workers found that they'd been locked out of their government computers and email system.

Multiple inquiries about their employment status led to a confirmation on Wednesday that those who'd been locked out had been laid off as part of a shutdown-related "reduction-in-force."

The news immediately sparked fear-mongering from supporters of the program, including a former deputy assistant secretary of OPA under former President Joe Biden, Jessica Marcella, who worried that the "high-quality, confidential care" some people relied upon "may disappear overnight," and exclaimed, "If there’s no one there to run it, then functionally the program ceases to exist."

A spokesperson for HHS, Emily Hilliard, declined to answer any specific questions about the alleged OPA layoffs, but did confirm that all "employees receiving reduction-in-force notices were designated nonessential by their respective divisions."

What did OPA do?

According to the Times, the news of mass layoffs at the OPA shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, as the Trump administration had already signaled that the program was slated for elimination after it wasn't included in the 2026 budget proposal.

Further, the office had reportedly been ordered to refocus the bulk of its attention on addressing infertility and declining birthrates in the U.S. -- an initiative that will likely live on under different programs within the executive branch if, as reported, the OPA has effectively been shut down.

That is a far cry from what the OPA claimed it did on its website, which is to advise HHS leadership on "a wide range of reproductive and adolescent health topics, including teen pregnancy prevention, family planning, and sterilization, as well as other population issues."

What that translated to in reality, especially under Democratic administrations, according to Breitbart, was to promote abortion, birth control, and sex change hormone treatment and operations for minor children.

A "great win" for children

Not everyone was saddened by the reports that the OPA had been effectively shuttered, as prominent pro-life activist Lila Rose cheered the "amazing news" in an X post on Monday.

"The Trump administration has shut down the Office of Population Affairs -- the agency heavily responsible for funding Planned Parenthood and pushing sexually deviant propaganda to kids," she wrote. "Great win for our children."

It is unclear how many OPA staffers received layoff notices, or when their last day of employment might be. The Times observed that a federal judge issued a temporary injunction to block President Trump's shutdown-related layoffs. However, it is also unclear which employees and programs are covered by that court order, nor how long it would last.