Breaking: CDC/NIOSH employees reinstated.

The news likely affected "hundreds" public health professionals in a center that has substantial support in Congress.

We have some breaking news that I believe we are first to report, right here in Inside Medicine, thanks to the HHS employees, past and present, who continue to bravely speak out. You can help me amplify them by reading, sharing, and supporting this work. Thanks!

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This is an update. The original story was published early Tuesday evening.

Rumors of mass reinstatements of previously RIF’d CDC employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) circulated on Tuesday afternoon. Andrew G. Nixon, an HHS spokesperson confirmed those rumors to Inside Medicine, saying that employees at NIOSH had been reinstated. Inside Medicine viewed two emails received by now-formerly-RIF’d NIOSH employees, notifying them that they had been given their jobs back. A screenshot of one of the emails received by an affected CDC employee is above.

There are reports that rescinded RIF notices went out to a large number of NIOSH staffers who had been cut from their jobs by the Trump administration in 2025 (most, if not all, on April 1), though the exact numbers were not yet known. Dr. Micah Niemeier-Walsh, a NIOSH employee and union representative, said that the number of reinstated NIOSH workers was “definitely [in the] hundreds,” but, as of Tuesday evening, could not cite specific figures. Update [Wednesday, January 14]: According to NIOSH leadership, “over 400 employees [were] reinstated.”

Another union volunteer, and others I spoke to, indicated that the restored jobs were broadly distributed within NIOSH. “Someone from every unit on administrative leave reported having a RIF rescinded today,” one union volunteer told Inside Medicine. According to the CDC Data Project, the affected work units therefore would be expected to have included workers from every division, branch, office, or other entity on this list:

Courtesy of CDC Data Project. Used by permission.

What about the other CDC employees?

The next question is whether all NIOSH employees who were RIF’d (and have not since moved on to other jobs) have been restored to their positions by this latest move. “The union is still tracking whether anyone was left behind,” the volunteer told me.

The CDC Data Project has been tracking the RIF whack-a-mole for months, covering not just NIOSH, but all of the agency’s centers and components, including the various divisions, branches, and offices that are home to thousands of dedicated career professionals. So far, there is no indication that rescission notices—that is, RIF reversals—have been sent to CDC employees in units outside of NIOSH.

Regardless, an American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2883 executive committee member hailed the good news. “We welcome the reinstatement of all NIOSH staff and are keeping track of all units and staff are fully back in the upcoming days and weeks,” the member said. “We are encouraged to see their reinstatement and hope to see the reinstatement of the rest of CDC staff who were similarly illegally terminated and remain on administrative leave or were separated.”

Good news, somewhat unexplained.

While this is excellent news for US public health generally, it’s not yet known why the change in policy occurred. Asked why the Trump administration had made this change, Mr. Nixon told Inside Medicine:

“Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, the nation’s critical public health functions remain intact and effective. The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services—whether it’s supporting coal miners and firefighters through NIOSH, safeguarding public health through lead prevention, or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases. Enhancing the health and well-being of all Americans remains our top priority.”

One theory—and it’s just mine—is that the move relates to the recent news that Congress will not pass the President’s proposed budget from early 2025. The HHS-specific parts of that request, which included massive cuts, seemingly never got off the ground, either in the House or the Senate, as outlined in Inside Medicine last year. So, with the President’s budget proposal off the table, the RIFs could no longer be buried by the momentum of what would have become legal versions of what were likely unlawful earlier cuts. Instead, the worst case scenario for legally executed reductions in force will be negotiated from the House and Senate markups, either of which would be far less devastating to our national public health apparatus than the President’s now dead-in-the-water request.

Still, this is far from over, and many HHS employees remain out of work due to the 2025 RIFs. Generally, NIOSH has a lot of support in Congress, which may in part explain why these RIF reversals occurred.

But, this whole ordeal was an unforced error, a Local 2883 executive committee member said, highlighting the effects on American public safety. “The illegal terminations that sidelined them should have never occurred in the first place,” they said. “For the past nine months, they were placed on administration leave, freezing significant projects and leaving critical public health responsibilities unattended.”

If you have information about any of the unfolding stories we are following, please email me or find me on Signal at InsideMedicine.88.