ProPublica investigated staff departures from federal health agencies during the Trump administration due to lack of official data. They utilized a federal employee directory, regularly archived since before Trump's presidency, for a more current view of employment changes. The directory covers staff across various HHS agencies, providing names, emails, agency, office, and job titles, including both government and non-government workers. ProPublica analyzed turnover by tracking the first and last appearance of email addresses in the directory, marking departures and hires. Their analysis aimed to quantify workforce cuts while acknowledging departures could result from reasons beyond layoffs. They validated the directory's accuracy through LinkedIn, open-source records, and interviews, confirming employment status for numerous individuals. Job titles were categorized using a language model and manual review to understand the role of lost workers. While the directory has limitations, it remains the best available data, although there can be instances where the directory is not up to date. Certain agencies like CMS and IHS were excluded from analysis due to data inconsistencies.