About 180 ex-employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were called back to work Tuesday — just two weeks after a round of layoffs ordered by the Trump administration, according to a report.
The probationary CDC workers were notified of their change in employment status in an email that informed them they should return to work on Wednesday, according to the missive viewed by the Associated Press.
“Read this e-mail immediately,” said the subject line of Tuesday’s message alerting the nearly 200 probationary employees that their termination had been rescinded.
“You should return to duty under your previous work schedule,” the email said, adding, “We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused.”
Those who had their firing rescinded included outbreak responders in two fellowship programs that trained recent graduates for careers in public health, according to the report.
It is not immediately clear just how many of the un-fired employees have or will return to work.
Just over two weeks ago, recent hires still on probationary employment at the CDC were targeted in a round of federal layoffs amid the Trump administration’s effort to shrink the size of government.
About 1,300 CDC workers were thought to be facing the axe at the time, though it turned out 700 to 750 employees received termination notices, according the the AP.
With this recent rescinding, about 550 CDC workers will have been fired.
The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Broad cuts to government agencies have been initiated by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency headed up by billionaire X-owner Elon Musk.
Veterans Affairs remains a target for cost-cutting measures, with the Trump admin stating that 80,000 employees will be cut from the agency, according to a leaked internal memo. That agency has already let go of 1,000 workers.
The Internal Revenue Service is also drafting plans to cut its workforce in half — with 90,000 employees facing termination on the advice of DOGE.
Other agencies were also targeted — with the Forest Service axing 3,000, as well as an additional 5,000 terminated from positions in national parks, forests, and other federal public lands, according to The Guardian.
Whether these mass layoffs will stand is now a matter for the courts, with a federal judge in San Francisco granting temporary relief to a coalition of labor unions that are suing the administration for unlawful firings.
In a boon for the administration’s efforts, a DC appeals court ruled that Trump could legitimately dismiss the head of the federal watchdog Office of Special Council. That case will likely rise to the US Supreme Court, PBS reported.
Read the full article here