Summary
Late Friday, about 700 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were told they were fired but were later reinstated due to an error. This came as part of President Donald Trump's plan to reduce government workforce size, affecting 1,300 CDC staff, with 600 still not reinstated.
Key Facts
- Around 1,300 CDC employees received layoff notices, with about 700 later reinstated.
- The reinstatement followed a mistake due to coding errors in the layoff notices, as confirmed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
- President Trump is working on reducing the federal workforce, known as Reduction in Force (RIF).
- The unexpected layoffs disrupted critical CDC operations during public health challenges, such as the severe measles outbreak.
- Key divisions affected initially included disease surveillance and immunization programs.
- Affected employees included those involved in publishing the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and parts of the Global Health Center.
- The decisions have led to significant operational issues at the CDC amidst ongoing public health priorities.
