CDC backtracks on layoffs, rehires more than 400 people
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reinstating more than 400 people who had received layoff notices, according to an email from CDC leadership to employees seen by POLITICO.
The rehiring, announced internally today, marks the largest number of employees that the agency has asked back to date.
Around half of those employees are in the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention, and around a third are in the National Center for Environmental Health.
Other divisions seeing reinstatements include the National Center for Health Statistics, Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, Office of Human Resources, Global Health Center, Office of Acquisition Services and Office of Communications.
HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He told Fox News, which first reported the news: 'The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services — whether it's supporting coal miners and firefighters through [the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health], safeguarding public health through lead prevention, or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases.'
— Key context: In April, roughly 2,400 CDC employees received termination notices amid a massive reorganization of the Department of Health and Human Services. But the agency has periodically rehired staff over the past few months.
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