The Trump administration has recently terminated a significant number of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of its latest cost-cutting measures, which reportedly includes key staff such as “disease detectives,” top scientists, and the entire Washington office. According to the New York Times, the White House and the CDC have not provided any immediate responses to inquiries from Reuters.
Impacted employees received termination notices via email just before 9:00 pm ET (0100 GMT) on Friday, indicating that their roles were now considered redundant or closely mirrored by others within the organization. The specific count of affected CDC personnel has not been officially disclosed as of yet.
The current government shutdown has resulted in the furlough of numerous federal workers, affecting employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, which encompasses the CDC.