On Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) informed around 1,300 employees that they were being laid off.
However, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the agency reversed hundreds of those notices within hours. About 400 CDC staff still received termination notices, with total job losses estimated at around 1,300.
Late-Night Termination Notices
According to the source, by Saturday evening, 90 staffers from units employing a total of 700 people confirmed that their layoff notices had been reversed.
See Also: Appeals Court Blocks Trump From Deploying National Guard In Illinois
Reversed dismissals included staff responsible for the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, employees at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and early-career epidemiologists in outbreak investigations.
The White House and CDC did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.
HHS Defends ‘Non-Essential’ Cuts
“HHS continues to close wasteful and duplicative entities, including those that are at odds with the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda,” HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon stated.
The cuts targeted workers deemed “non-essential” by their units.
Pattern Under Kennedy Leadership
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. previously dismissed 2,400 CDC employees, rehiring 942 months later. Kennedy has called the CDC “the most corrupt government agency.”
Broader Government Shutdown Impact
The CDC's parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, is also facing staffing disruptions.
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