Margaret is a Washington correspondent covering the Food and Drug Administration and other federal health agencies. Reach her on Signal at margaretmanto.61.

WASHINGTON — Changes to the annual performance review process are the latest flashpoint in tensions between federal workers across the Department of Health and Human Services and the Trump administration, federal employees told STAT. 

Staff have been told to submit 6,000-character self-assessments of their performance by Friday, a task officials say is necessary because of administration guidance to “calibrate” employee rankings to make a high rating more meaningful and to promote “more consistent and credible ratings across agencies.” 

But federal health workers, traumatized by DOGE-era layoffs and continued departures, regard the assignment with suspicion. 

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   Washington Correspondent

   Margaret is a Washington correspondent covering the Food and Drug Administration and other federal health agencies. Reach her on Signal at margaretmanto.61.