The United States Department of Health and Human Services has formally dismissed 600 staff members from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the union representing agency employees.
Union leaders said many of these workers had already been removed from daily duties and placed on paid leave earlier this year. Their removal was part of wide job cuts proposed in April by Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.
The American Federation of Government Employees said the final dismissals affect multiple CDC offices, including the Division of Violence Prevention and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. The union argued the cuts weakened an already fragile workforce.
The timing of the firings has caused fresh outrage among workers. The decision came only two weeks after a gunman opened fire at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta.
That attack on 8 August left a police officer dead after the shooter fired about 500 rounds at the main CDC campus. Investigators later said the man blamed a Covid-19 vaccine for his mental health struggles before turning the weapon on himself.
Union officials said the sudden firings added trauma for staff still trying to recover from the violent event. “The cruel decision to move forward with these unlawful separations immediately after a violent attack on campus contradicts their stated commitments to promote recovery,” the AFGE statement read.
The Health Department confirmed the dismissals but did not issue a new explanation. Officials instead pointed reporters back to Kennedy’s earlier statement in March, when he outlined plans to cut 10,000 jobs across health agencies.
At that time, Kennedy said the job reductions would affect 2,400 people at the CDC, along with workers at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. He argued the measures would save taxpayers $1.8 billion each year.
According to Kennedy, the government needed to reduce what he called bureaucratic sprawl. He said the goal was to shift focus toward controlling long-term illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes, which he called the country’s most urgent health problem.
The layoffs have not only affected workers in support offices but also experts who track infectious diseases, monitor environmental risks, and handle requests for public information.
Legal challenges quickly followed the April announcement. Courts put parts of the mass dismissal on hold. Some employees stayed on paid leave while judges reviewed the government’s authority to remove them.
Earlier this month, a federal judge in Rhode Island narrowed an earlier order that had frozen all firings. The ruling allowed HHS to proceed with cuts in many parts of the CDC, while blocking the removal of staff in six divisions.
The union said this new round of firings followed that ruling. It accused the administration of ignoring the stress of employees who had endured both uncertainty about their jobs and a violent attack on their workplace.
Kennedy, a long-time critic of vaccines, has made many changes to public health rules since taking office. He has questioned long-standing immunization programs and cut funds for related projects.
Those steps have drawn strong objections from health experts who warn that weakened programs could increase the risk of outbreaks and reduce public trust in science-based health advice.
Earlier this week, more than 750 current and former employees of the Health Department signed a letter to Kennedy. They said his policies and public comments had helped fuel mistrust of health officials, making staff targets of harassment and violence.
They also linked his remarks to the Atlanta attack, pointing to the gunman’s claims about vaccines. The letter urged Kennedy to take responsibility for his words and change his approach before more workers were harmed.
The dismissals mark one of the largest shakeups in the CDC’s recent history. Supporters of the move say it will reduce costs and focus the agency on its main mission. Critics argue the cuts will leave the nation less prepared to handle public health emergencies.
For many employees, the debate about money and policy has become personal. They now face losing jobs while recovering from trauma. For those who remain, uncertainty about the agency’s future still looms large.
