The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was thrown into turmoil late Friday as the Trump administration carried out sweeping layoffs that left more than 1,300 employees jobless — only for hundreds of those dismissals to be abruptly reversed hours later.
The mass firings, confirmed by multiple reports including The New York Times and Reuters, are part of a broader series of “reductions in force” ordered during the prolonged government shutdown. Those affected initially included senior officials from divisions overseeing respiratory and chronic diseases, global health programs, and the CDC’s flagship publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
Seventy members of the CDC’s elite Epidemic Intelligence Service — known as the nation’s “disease detectives” — were also reportedly notified of their dismissal, along with staff in the agency’s Washington office.
The move sparked immediate outrage among public health experts, who warned it could cripple the agency’s ability to respond to disease outbreaks just as the country enters peak respiratory virus season.
Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, said the layoffs, if made permanent, would be “a death blow” for U.S. public health. “CDC will have lost its ability to detect outbreaks and respond to them,” she said. “Together, this means the CDC is not functional. It cannot carry out any of its mission. America has no national public health agency anymore.”
Others, including Georgia State Representative and physician Michelle Au, expressed alarm that the cuts came as flu, COVID-19, and RSV cases are expected to rise, warning that the U.S. is “flying blind” into respiratory season.
By Saturday morning, confusion deepened when hundreds of CDC employees were told their firings had been rescinded. According to Reuters, staff from the MMWR and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases were among those reinstated.
Andrew Nixon, communications director for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said in a statement that the layoffs were “a direct consequence of the Democrat-led government shutdown,” adding that only “non-essential” employees were affected.
The cuts come after months of upheaval at the CDC following leadership changes under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who earlier this year dismissed former CDC director Susan Monarez and reorganized the agency.
President Donald Trump, speaking Friday from the Oval Office, defended the decision, saying many of those laid off were “Democrat-oriented.” “It will be a lot,” he said.
The episode marks another blow for the CDC, already reeling from leadership turmoil, declining morale, and the ongoing shutdown — a political standoff fueled by disputes over Affordable Care Act subsidies and healthcare spending.
