Hundreds of federal employees working on mental health, disease outbreaks, and disaster preparedness were laid off by the Trump administration during a government shutdown. The move, intended to pressure Democratic lawmakers, led to significant confusion, with over half of the initial CDC layoff notices later reversed due to error, sparking widespread concern over public health impacts.
During a nearly two-week-long government shutdown, the Trump administration initiated mass firings targeting hundreds of federal employees across critical sectors like mental health services, disease outbreak response, and disaster preparedness within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This reduction-in-force, which began on a Friday, was perceived as an effort to pressure Democratic lawmakers to end the shutdown. The initiative caused significant disruption within HHS, impacting agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). The situation escalated into chaos over the weekend when more than half of the approximately 1,300 CDC employees who initially received layoff notices were informed that their terminations were sent in error and were subsequently reinstated; around 600 CDC workers, however, remained fired. While a federal official attributed the incorrect notices to a system glitch, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883 denounced the action as a 'politically-motivated stunt.' Former staffers and health professionals voiced serious concerns that these layoffs would have negative health impacts, making it difficult for HHS agencies to fulfill their congressional obligations. Specifically, cuts to SAMHSA, primarily a grantmaking agency, were feared to have 'devastating ripple effects' on behavioral health services and state safety nets for people with mental illness. The CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, crucial for responding to public health outbreaks, were also initially targeted before many were reinstated. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon stated that the laid-off employees were deemed 'nonessential' and that the agency was working to 'close wasteful and duplicative entities' aligned with the Trump administration's 'Make America Healthy Again' agenda. While Nixon declined to specify numbers, a court filing indicated that about 1,100 to 1,200 of HHS's nearly 80,000 staffers received dismissal notices. These recent layoffs build upon earlier cuts and are part of a broader restructuring effort within HHS, aimed at consolidating agencies under a new 'Administration for a Healthy America.'
