US Edition‘Rogue employee’ at HHS changed voicemail to Domino’s pizza recording
A rogue HHS staffer replaced the voicemail with a Domino’s message after calls protesting $126 million NIH-funded cat testing surged, officials said the act was unauthorized.
- An employee at the Department of Health and Human Services changed the agency's automated phone greeting to a Domino's Pizza message on Tuesday, following a surge of protest calls from activists demanding funding cuts.
- White Coat Waste Project rallied supporters to call HHS demanding officials "cut funding for cat testing" at a University of Missouri lab, while accusing the National Institutes of Health of approving $126 million for beagle experiments.
- At a Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing on Wednesday, Justin Goodman denounced the prank, prompting Senator Joni Ernst to reply that the voicemail was "not okay" and "actually makes my stomach turn."
- HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon stated the voicemail was "an unauthorized action by a rogue employee and not representative of HHS," and confirmed the phone line has returned to normal operations.
- The protest campaign specifically targeted HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding agency funding; while Kennedy previously expressed interest in ending primate testing, activists continue pressuring the administration to shift research allocations.
13 Articles
13 Articles
RFK Jr. Office Replaces Official Phone Line With Domino's Number Amid Pressure Over Cat Testing Controversy
A federal health agency run by one of America's most prominent critics of institutional medicine just deflected citizen complaints by redirecting them to a pizza chain's voicemail. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., confirmed on 19 March 2026 that an unnamed staff member had altered an official phone line to greet incoming callers with: 'Thank you for calling Domino's Pizza. Can you please …
'Rogue employee' at HHS changed voicemail to Domino's Pizza recording
Callers hoping to voice complaints about federal animal testing with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this week instead reached what sounded like the voicemail for a popular pizza chain after a “rogue” staffer changed the phone’s outgoing message.
‘Rogue employee’ at HHS changed voicemail to Domino’s pizza recording
Callers hoping to voice complaints about federal animal testing with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) earlier this week instead reached what sounded like the voicemail for a popular pizza chain after a “rogue” staffer changed the phone’s outgoing message. The White Coat Waste Project (WCWP), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to…
The Independent
The Independent (US)Staffer changed HHS voicemail to Domino’s message to thwart animal rights protesters
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Humans Services said the message has been changed and was ‘not representative’ of the agency
‘Rogue’ HHS Staffer Changed Agency Voicemail to ‘Thanks for Calling Domino’s Pizza!’ After Influx of Protest Calls
“Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Marcel Breuer’s Brutalist Federal Landmark in Washington, D.C.” by Dale Cruse – 11M SF views, CC BY 4.0 A contact phone number for the Department of Health and Human Services temporarily played an unexpected message seemingly from a pizza chain, because a “rogue” staffer changed it after an influx of calls protesting animal testing. The kerfuffle began when White Coat Waste Project, a group that advocates against ta…
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