CDC Asks 180 Fired Employees To Come Back To Work

March 7, 2025

The CDC is asking about 180 recently terminated employees to return to work.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reversed 180 recent terminations and is now requesting the affected employees to return to work.

Current and former CDC employees disclosed that emails were sent on Tuesday, March 4, to probationary employees who had been laid off two weeks prior, AP reports. With a subject line urging them to “Read this e-mail immediately,” the message informed staff that, “after further review and consideration,” their Feb. 15 termination notice had been rescinded, and they were cleared to return to work on Wednesday.

“You should return to duty under your previous work schedule,” the email stated. “We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused.”

Approximately 180 individuals received reinstatement emails, according to two federal health officials who were briefed on the matter but spoke anonymously. It remains unclear how many of those employees returned to work on Wednesday or whether they will be affected by the widespread job cuts expected across government agencies in the near future.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock welcomed the reinstatements but said they are not enough amid massive federal job cuts.

“Today’s announcement is a welcome relief, but until all fired CDC employees are restored, our country’s public health and national security will continue to be at risk,” Warnock said Wednesday.

The Atlanta-based organization, responsible for protecting Americans from outbreaks and other public health threats, employed about 13,000 people before the cuts. Last month, the Trump administration informed the CDC that nearly 1,300 of its probationary employees would be laid off. However, the actual number of terminations turned out to be around 700 to 750. With 180 people now reinstated, the current number of CDC employees terminated appears to be roughly 550, though this figure has not been officially confirmed.

The CDC is the latest federal agency to reverse terminations made as part of cost-cutting measures under Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk. Other federal agencies that have reinstated terminated staff include those overseeing medical devices, food safety, bird flu response, nuclear weapons, and national parks.

Last week, Musk acknowledged that DOGE will make mistakes but emphasized the commitment to quickly address and correct them.

“I should say we’ll also make mistakes. We won’t be perfect. But when we make mistakes, we will fix it very quickly,” Musk said during a cabinet meeting.

“So, for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very, very briefly was Ebola, Ebola prevention. I think we all want Ebola prevention, so we restored the Ebola prevention, and there was no interruption.”

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