The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has permanently fired 600 employees, finalising a wave of mass layoffs first proposed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this year, according to the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
The union said many of those dismissed had been on paid administrative leave since April, when Kennedy announced plans to cut 10,000 federal health jobs across the CDC, NIH, and FDA. At the CDC, 2,400 positions were slated for elimination, including roles in the Division of Violence Prevention and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity.
The layoffs come just two weeks after a gunman attacked CDC headquarters in Atlanta, firing 500 rounds and killing a police officer. The AFGE condemned the timing, calling the move “cruel” and harmful to staff still recovering from the shooting.
HHS confirmed the firings and pointed to Kennedy’s rationale of reducing “bureaucratic sprawl” and shifting resources toward tackling chronic disease. He said the cuts would save taxpayers $1.8bn annually.
The layoffs affect employees working on infectious disease response, environmental health research, and public record handling. Public health experts have warned the changes could weaken preparedness for threats like bird flu.
Legal challenges are ongoing. A federal judge in Rhode Island previously blocked some firings, limiting them to certain divisions. Despite this, Thursday’s dismissals went forward.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, has already made controversial cuts to immunisation programs, sparking alarm among health officials. Earlier this week, over 750 current and former HHS employees accused him in an open letter of spreading misinformation and fueling hostility toward health workers — linking his rhetoric to the CDC shooting.
Investigators say the gunman, who later died by suicide, believed a Covid-19 vaccine had caused his depression and suicidal thoughts.
