The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has rescinded more than half of the 1,300 termination notices sent to employees at the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), according to reports. The reversal affects roughly 700 workers, while about 600 remain dismissed.
Among those reinstated are members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, known as “disease detectives”, and the team responsible for the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. A senior administration official said the mistakenly fired workers “were sent incorrect notifications”, and a federal health official described the issue as a “coding error”.
Despite the reversal, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has filed a lawsuit seeking to block all firings across agencies. A federal judge in San Francisco will hear arguments later this week.
The CDC has faced significant upheaval in recent months, including a gun attack on its Atlanta headquarters in August and the firing of its recently appointed director, Susan Monarez, by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. Several public health leaders have resigned in protest, citing political interference.
