BREAKING NEWS: CDC employees terminated in apparent Friday night massacre.
The Trump administration is using the shutdown to further weaken the our national public health infrastructure.
I believe we have the first visual confirmation of a fresh round of reductions in force (RIFs) enacted by the Trump administration. So this is breaking news. We are in solidarity with CDC and other dedicated HHS federal employees affected by these terminations, professionals who work hard to keep us all safe. Thanks for reading, sharing, and supporting this work.
The Trump administration is using the federal government shutdown as an excuse to terminate CDC employees. The above screenshot is an email obtained by Inside Medicine, received by a CDC official within the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases [NCIRD] Office of the Director.
This is, to my knowledge, the first visual confirmation of this fresh round of HHS terminations, promised earlier in the day by Russel Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget—who previously warned that a government shutdown would be leveraged as yet another pretense to dismantle large swaths of the CDC. Ironically, some CDC employees who have been furloughed due to the shutdown were apparently called back in to do this particular work. Of note, that alone may make these RIFs illegal, simply on procedural grounds, according to a legal expert I spoke to.
In addition to rank-and-file scientists and staffers, institutional leaders were affected this time around, leaving it unclear just how the agency’s major centers and divisions might continue to function.
“Whole NCIRD Office of the Director RIF’d,” one former CDC official familiar with the situation told me. “Acting Director and Deputy of NCIRD definitely RIFd.”
CDC leaders instructed their staffers to inform them if they received a RIF notice, as well as any other helpful information, like how long they had been employed by the agency, and whether they had been RIF’d in the past but brought back (whether to due legal action or other policy changes). This “call for information” indicated that the choices about who was terminated today were, once again, made outside of the CDC leadership structure—that is, by faceless bureaucrats not actually involved in the CDC’s mission.
The prior justification used by the Trump administration—that cuts to the CDC were some kind of course correction—was not even a pretense this time around. “This seems to be clearly a political move to pressure congressional Democrats, and would cause lasting harm to the agency if implemented,” a current CDC official told Inside Medicine. “Many people who were RIFed were currently excepted staff working on emergency responses and other critical functions.”
Meanwhile, legal action to stop this latest round of draconian cuts was already in motion. Earlier in the day, federal workers moved to block the RIFs. Two versions of the filing documents can be found here:
These RIFs were anticipated. In my recent interview with former CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Debra Houry, she warned of a “hostile takeover,” expressing concerns about an ongoing effort by the administration to dismantle the agency.
Then, early on Friday, Russel Vought said that “The RIFs have begun.”
That’s what we know…however…
Some well-sourced rumors…
Indeed, on Friday evening, rumors swirled furiously among CDC employees, past and present. Multiple people heard that over 1,000 CDC employees were slated to be terminated this weekend, with some saying that the number could be as high as 1,300. As STAT reported earlier, a legal filing from the federal government itself estimated that 1,100-1,200 employees would be slated for termination.
As the evening progressed, I received lists of centers, divisions, offices, and branches affected. These are not confirmed. But they are certainly what many in the agency believe, as I received this list in various forms from half a dozen sources there.
Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology (OPHDST)
Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA) – Inform Division
CDC Washington Office (CDC Washington) – All
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) – Policy, Surveillance/Office of the Director, Office of Data, Surveillance, and Informatics (ODSI), Chief Medical Office (CMO)
Global Health Center (GHC) – All of Office of the Director
Office of Human Resources (OHR)
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) – Policy and Communications, Office of the Medical Director, and Office of Science
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) – Policy and Communications
Public Health Infrastructure Center (PHIC) – Informatics, Infectious Disease Surveillance Unit (IDSU), Division of Workforce Development (DWD)
Office of Science (OS) – MMWR, 2023 + 2024 Civilian Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers (EISOs)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Library (CDC Library)
Office of Safety, Security, and Asset Management (OSSAM)
I am posting this list because it speaks to the panic that these RIFs have already caused. We’ll circle back on to its accuracy and completeness once we have more information.
But even the perception of the extent of these RIFs matter. Back in the early days of the Trump administration, White House OMB director (Project 2025 architect) Russel Vought said the quiet part out loud: He wanted federal workers to be traumatized, as part of a larger strategy to dismantle the federal government.
If you have information about any of the unfolding stories we are following, please email me or find me on Signal at InsideMedicine.88.
This is just so bad. I no longer even know what to say. The pettiness, cruelty, and petulant toddler like behavior on the part of Trump and his regime is just incredible!
This administration wants to destroy our government, our country, and it's people. And own the ruins. Thanks Jeremy. What a gut punch.