The firings of hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and their sudden reinstatement after an “error” sent layoff notices to critical staff, has sparked chaos at the nation’s public health agency, which has endured a hectic 10 months under Donald Trump’s administration.
The administration sent “reduction in force” memos to more than 1,000 CDC employees before a three-day holiday weekend as the White House used the government shutdown to purge a federal workforce that has long been in its sights.
