Ga.-based CDC to lose 10% of workforce under Trump job cuts
ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Nearly 1,300 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — roughly one-tenth of the agency’s workforce — are being forced out under the Trump istration’s move to get rid of all probationary employees.
The Atlanta-based agency’s leadership was notified of the decision Friday morning.
The verbal notice came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in a meeting with CDC leaders, according to a federal official who was at the meeting.
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U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff blasted the mass firing.
“President Trump’s indefensible, indiscriminate firing of more than 1,000 CDC personnel in a single day leaves Americans exposed to disease and devastates careers and livelihoods for the world’s most talented doctors and scientists, many of them here in Georgia,” said Ossoff, D-Ga.
Earlier this week Ossoff argued forcefully against Senate confirmation of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had publicly compared the work of the CDC to “Nazi death camps.”
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In his speech, Ossoff told his Senate colleagues, “If this istration guts and gags the CDC, who is going to defend the nation from Ebola? Who is going to protect kids from measles? Who is going to save us from TB?”
Fellow Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock echoed Ossoff’s sentiment.
“The moment at which you put the CDC and Nazi death camps in the same statement, and you’re the secretary nominee for HHS, Houston, Georgia, America, we have a problem,” said Warnock, D-Ga. “And that problem is Robert Kennedy.”
Warnock’s office said he “remains committed to using any tools at his disposal to stop cuts to programs and agencies that impact the lives of everyday Americans.”
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The affected employees are supposed to receive four weeks of paid istrative leave.
With a $9.2 billion core budget, the CDC is charged with protecting Americans from outbreaks and other public health threats. Before the cuts, the agency had about 13,000 employees, including more than 2,000 who work in other countries.
Historically CDC has been seen as a global leader on disease control and a reliable source of health information, boasting some of the top experts in the world.
The staff is heavy with scientists — 60% have master’s degrees or doctorates. Most of the workforce does not belong to a union.
It’s not only new employees who are subject to probation. Probationary periods also are applied to veteran agency staffers who, for example, were recently promoted to a new job in management.
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