Firings of hundreds of CDC employees reportedly reversed | Robert F Kennedy Jr
Layoffs of hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been reversed, according to several reports cited by officials familiar with the matter and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union representing federal workers.
On Friday, the White House budget office announced the beginning of cuts in force (RIFs) across agencies as a result of the ongoing government shutdown.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which houses the CDC, said all employees who initially received layoff notices were designated as “non-essential by their respective departments.”
But over the weekend, the administration rescinded more than half of the 1,300 termination notices it sent to public health officials at the CDC. axios And Reutersquoting familiar sources. Approximately 600 people were laid off in the agency.
on saturday, The New York Times reported It was stated that members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), known informally as “disease detectives”, were among the redeployed employees, as well as the team that compiles the highly respected scientific journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
About 70 EIS members were initially laid off, according to the Times report. Athalia Christie and Maureen Bartee, who led the federal response to the measles outbreak, were also affected. The Times reported that two infectious disease experts were laid off, but on or about Oct. 10 they received an email saying their firings were rescinded a day later.
A senior administration official told the Times that “false notices were sent” to workers who were mistakenly fired, adding that “any corrections have already been corrected.”
He is also a federal health authority he told ABC News It was stated that the error was caused by a “coding error”. Neither the White House nor HHS immediately responded to the Guardian’s requests for comment on how many employees had been called back to duty.
“These layoffs are an attack on the health and lives of everyone in the United States,” said Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist and member of Defend Public Health, a network of volunteer experts working to challenge the Trump administration’s public health policies.
“Didn’t they care enough to find out who they were firing and what they were doing before sending out their termination letters? The carelessness and insensitivity with which this administration deals with matters of life and death is incredible.”
AFGE filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an attempt to block layoffs between the agencies. In a court filing, the government said the layoffs in the federal workforce would affect more than 4,000 employees. Later this week, a federal judge in San Francisco will hear arguments in the case.
The CDC has endured significant turmoil in recent months. In August, a gunman targeted the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta, firing hundreds of bullets and killing a police officer in the attack. The perpetrator had blamed the Covid vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal.
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr fired newly appointed CDC director Susan Monarez after she spent less than a month on the job. Monarez’s dismissal became a bitter flashpoint in the organization. At the Senate committee hearing, Monzarez said Kennedy fired him for not going along with his vaccine agenda, adding that the health secretary had called the CDC “the most corrupt federal agency in the world.”
Following his dismissal, many public health leaders left the agency to protest political interference in their work. Debra Houry, the CDC’s former chief medical officer, said Kennedy “censored CDC science, politicized its processes, and deprived leaders of independence” while speaking alongside Monarez on Capitol Hill last month.
“Think about what it’s like to be at the CDC. It’s like living with an abusive partner who lashes out and then takes back some of the abuse. That doesn’t make the partner any less abusive. We’re sending power to the CDC staff who are being held hostage.” said Demetre DaskalakisD., who is director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and was part of a wave of resignations from CDC leadership earlier this year.
“The damage has been done to the CDC. Whether or not the firings are called off. The health security of the United States has been compromised,” he added.
