CDC Begins Layoffs Amid Government Shutdown

More than 1,300 scientists, doctors and public health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices on Friday as the federal government shutdown entered its second week. However, The New York Times reported that many of the employees later received notice that they were incorrectly included and not affected by the RIF.

According to reporting, the RIF affected staff in the agency’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, Global Health Center, Laboratory Leadership Service, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Office of Science, Public Health Infrastructure Center and the agency’s Washington office.

The Department of Health and Human Services has not issued a public statement confirming which agencies are affected.

Two unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, previously filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s threats of a mass firing of federal employees in the event of a government shutdown.