The White House is working on an executive order to fire thousands of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services workers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The email is the most sweeping effort yet by the new Trump administration to shrink the ranks of government employees.

The executive order could come as soon as next week, if the Trump administration goes ahead with plans, according to people familiar with the matter.

Employees at the Department of Health and Human Services are bracing for layoffs across the vast public health agency, as Donald Trump ’s administration instructs federal health officials to rank their essential workers and those who are deemed less essential.

The next section of the federal workforce to face mass firings by the Trump administration could be health workers. White House aides are preparing an executive order to fire thousands of employees in the Department of Health and Human Services,

Thousands of federal workers are set to be purged by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to a report. The forthcoming executive order intends to fire "thousands" of employees,