- Botched October 10 RIF at CDC accidentally terminated hundreds, including key measles and Ebola scientists, prompting immediate reversals.
- The administration blamed technical errors; agencies sent rescind notices and said affected employees were never fully separated.
- Kennedy’s tenure has seen repeated upheavals: ACIP purge, mass layoffs reversed, director firing, and resignations undermining CDC credibility.
- Disruption, security incidents, and plummeting public trust threaten pandemic preparedness as flu and measles seasons approach.
ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is in full scramble mode after a botched wave of layoffs on October 10, 2025, inadvertently axed hundreds of essential scientists, including key players in measles and Ebola response teams, only for the Trump administration to reverse course within 24 hours.
The “Friday night massacre,” as critics dubbed it, left the agency eviscerated at a time when public health threats like seasonal flu and potential Ebola outbreaks loom large, prompting urgent rehiring emails and exposing the haphazard execution of cost-cutting under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The firings, part of broader reductions in force (RIFs) across federal agencies during the ongoing government shutdown, targeted over 4,000 positions agency-wide.
At the CDC, the hit included 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, high-ranking scientists, and the entire Washington office staff—dozens of experts whose roles are critical for outbreak tracking and vaccine coordination.
Employees received abrupt emails late Friday stating, “I regret to inform you that you are being affected by a reduction in force (RIF) action.
After you receive this notice, you will be placed on administrative leave and no longer have building access beginning Friday, October 10.”
Among those pink-slipped was Dr. Athalia Christie, incident commander of the agency’s measles response team, who was notified just as her unit ramped up for fall vaccination drives.
By Saturday morning, October 11, the administration was backpedaling.
Affected workers, including Christie, got follow-up emails revoking the notices: “You will not be affected by the upcoming RIF.”
A senior administration official told The New York Times, “The employees ‘were sent incorrect notifications, which was fixed last night and this morning with a technical correction.’ They added, ‘Any correction has already been remedied.’”
HHS Communications Director Andrew Nixon confirmed to The Daily Beast: “The employees who received incorrect notifications were never separated from the agency and have all been notified that they are not subject to the reduction in force.”
The blunder has left CDC morale in tatters and operations disrupted, with federal health officials warning of risks to public health responses. The layoffs eviscerated vital departments, potentially hampering measles and Ebola efforts, as reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
It’s unclear exactly how many of the firings are being reversed, but the rehiring involves rescinding erroneous notifications through technical corrections. The employees were never fully separated from the agency, according to Nixon.
This incident follows prior turmoil at the CDC during Trump’s second term under Kennedy, including mass layoffs in June 2025 that were also reversed, the firing of Trump-appointed CDC Director Susan Monarez, and the subsequent resignation of several senior CDC officials in protest.
Additionally, the agency was rocked by a shooting at its Atlanta campus in August 2025, where a police officer was killed and the shooter, identified as 30-year-old vaccine skeptic Patrick Joseph White, died at the scene; he was believed to have targeted the campus due to his hatred of the COVID-19 vaccine.
RFK Jr.’s Grip Tightens: From Vaccine Panel Purge to Senate Clashes
Kennedy’s tenure has been a whirlwind of upheaval at the CDC, blending his long-held vaccine skepticism with aggressive personnel shake-ups. On June 9, 2025, he fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the expert panel that advises on vaccine recommendations, calling for a “clean sweep” to address what he termed a “corrupt scientific and public health establishment beholden to corporate interests.”
Vaccine researchers were shocked at the unprecedented move, with Dr. Richard Besser, former acting CDC director, stating, “For generations, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been a trusted national source of science- and data-driven advice and guidance on the use of vaccines to prevent and control disease … Today’s action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives.”
The Senate Finance Committee hearing on September 4, 2025, turned heated as Kennedy defended the firings, accusing ousted CDC Director Susan Monarez of lying to Americans about her dismissal.
Monarez had testified that Kennedy required political sign-off on all CDC policy and personnel decisions and ordered her to fire center directors until she reached an “organization that was compliant” with his demands.
Kennedy countered, “We are the sickest country in the world; that’s why we had to fire people at the CDC. They did not do their job.”
He claimed Monarez told him she was not ‘trustworthy’ and that the agency had been corrupted by pharmaceutical dollars during COVID.
Monarez’s legal team called Kennedy’s accusations “false and, at times, patently ridiculous,” standing by her Wall Street Journal op-ed where she described being fired for refusing to endorse vaccine recommendations not supported by science.
In her Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee testimony on September 16, 2025, Monarez said, “I was fired for holding the line on scientific integrity.”
Former CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry, who resigned in protest, added, “I was fired for holding that line.”
Kennedy’s actions have drawn bipartisan criticism.
GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy’s alliance with Kennedy is fraying, with the senator pressing on vaccine trust erosion.
Democrats like Sen. Patty Murray blasted the “destructive chaos” at HHS, warning of long-term damage to public health.
Broader Fallout: Protests, Security Threats, and Public Trust Erosion
The CDC’s instability has ripple effects. Protesters gathered outside the agency’s Atlanta headquarters on April 1, 2025, decrying Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism.
The August 2025 shooting at the Emory University campus near CDC facilities—where White, a vaccine skeptic, killed a police officer—underscored security risks tied to anti-vaccine sentiment.
Bullet holes riddled windows, and the incident left the community on edge.
Public trust in the CDC has plummeted under Trump and Kennedy. A Gallup poll from October 4, 2025, showed agency approval at 32%, down from 62% in 2020. Pew Research in late September found 55% disapproving of Trump’s handling of health agencies.
Quinnipiac’s October 2 survey pegged non-Republican trust at 19%, while Reuters/Ipsos on September 23 showed 54% viewing the economy off-track amid shutdown chaos.
The shutdown, now in its 12th day, exacerbates the mess, with furloughs hitting CDC staff and freezing programs like WIC for 6.5 million low-income families.
Economists warn a prolonged stalemate could shave 0.5% off GDP, per the Congressional Budget Office.
Kennedy’s overhaul—firing Monarez after 29 days, purging ACIP, and reversing June layoffs—has critics like Dr. Paul Offit calling it “sabotage.”
“The CDC is being decapitated. This is an absolute disaster for public health,” Offit told CNN.
Kennedy’s September 4 Senate appearance saw him position as an “outsider” fighting pharma corruption, but senators clashed over vaccine policies and firings.
As flu season nears and measles cases rise, the CDC’s scramble to restaff—amid “technical corrections” and reversed notices—feels like putting out fires with a garden hose.
For public health, the stakes are life-or-death; for Kennedy, it’s a test of his “Make America Healthy Again” vision.
With trust eroded and threats mounting, the agency’s future hangs in the balance.
Also Read: Republicans Face Growing Backlash as Voters Blame Them for Govt. Shutdown
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