19-02-2025
Report: USDA rushing to rescind mistaken firings of key bird flu response personnel
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scrambling to rehire "several" fired employees who play a key role in the agency's response to bird flu, NBC News says an agency spokesperson has acknowledged.
It quoted the spokesperson, who it did not name, as saying the firings were accidental.
"Although several positions supporting (bird flu efforts) were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters," NBC quoted the spokesman, whom it did not name, as saying Tuesday. "USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service frontline positions are considered public safety positions, and we are continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission."
The news of the mistaken firings comes as President Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk. slashes the federal workforce, including by laying off many employees throughout the government who had not yet completed their probationary hiring periods. In many cases, employees have reported being told they were fired for poor performance, despite having received superior job reviews.
The NBC report follows a Politico story Sunday that said USDA laboratories responding to bird flu outbreaks across the nation had been notified that 25% of the staff in the agency's National Animal Health Laboratory Network program office, who coordinate the labs' work, had been fired. It said those employees manage data and ensure the labs are conducting the same tests and observing similar protocols to accurately and effectively track animal diseases.
Politico did not say where the office is located. The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, which includes the National Animal Health Laboratory Network program office, is headquartered in Maryland but has major facilities in Ames. Also located in Ames are the National Animal Disease Center and the National Veterinary Services Laboratory, which have played a major role in tracking and addressing bird flu.
Bird flu a major threat in Iowa, nation's top egg producer
No state has been hit harder by bird flu than Iowa, the nation's largest producer of eggs. Amid repeated detections of the disease over the past few years, millions of birds in Iowa commercial flocks have been killed to prevent the spread of the highly pathogenic HN51 virus, which is deadly to poultry. The decimation of flocks in response to the disease — 5.3 million laying hens were eliminated at one Buena Vista County facility — is blamed for record egg prices and shortages.
Dairy cattle also have been infected, including in Iowa. So far, their symptoms have not been severe. In addition, there have been human infections, including one in Iowa in December. A person with underlying health conditions died of the disease in Louisiana in January, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Tuesday evening, Don McDowell, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Agriculture, said there has been no let-up in battle against bird flu.
"To date, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship's H5N1 HPAI response efforts have not been impacted," McDowell said, adding, "We remain in daily communication with our USDA APHIS partners and are grateful for the continued collaboration and coordinated joint response throughout this evolving situation."
He added that the USDA "has announced that they are conducting a very thorough review of their contracts, grants, cooperative agreements and spending across the entire agency. In the near future, we anticipate USDA will offer states and other stakeholders clear guidance on potential changes to H5N1 HPAI response strategies" while also allowing states to contribute their insights and experiences.
New U.S. ag secretary tells employees she welcomes DOGE cuts
Speaking to USDA employees as she took office Friday, Trump's newly confirmed agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, said she was welcoming DOGE's efforts to streamline the department "because we know that its work makes us better, stronger, faster, and more efficient."
Rollins, in a transcription of her remarks provided by the USDA, added that she "will expect full access and transparency to DOGE in the days and weeks to come from everyone at this Department, and I will personally set that example as they proceed."
Both NBC and Politico reported she had held a meeting with department officials on bird flu Friday. It was not known what was discussed.
The firing error was not the first attributed to DOGE. The Trump administration over the weekend rescinded firings of hundreds of employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nation's arsenal of nuclear weapons.
"We cannot expect to project strength, deterrence, and world dominance while simultaneously stripping away the federal workforce that provides strategic oversight to ensure our nuclear enterprise remains safe, secure, and effective," Rob Plonski, a deputy division director at NNSA, wrote in a Friday LinkedIn post.
USA Today and Register staff writer Donnelle Eller contributed to this article. Have information to share about federal layoffs in Iowa? Reach Des Moines Register jobs and economy reporter Kevin Baskins at kbaskins@
