The Department of Health and Human Services is rehiring more than 450 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) following a massive federal workforce reduction effort in early April.
The rehired workers come from four different operational divisions within the CDC: the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention (NCHHSTP); the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH); the Immediate Office of the Director (IOD); and the Global Health Center (GHC), Fox News reported Wednesday.
A HHS spokesperson confirmed the accuracy of Fox News' reporting.
"Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, the nation’s critical public health functions remain intact and effective. The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services—whether it’s supporting coal miners and firefighters through [the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health], safeguarding public health through lead prevention or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases. HHS is streamlining operations without compromising mission-critical work. Enhancing the health and well-being of all Americans remains our top priority," the HHS spokesperson said in a statement.
More than 200 employees had their firings rescinded at the CDC’s NCHHSTP, along with 158 at the NCEH. The IOD will see 71 reinstated along with two dozen more at the GHC, according to Fox News' reporting.
In early April, the HHS, in collaboration with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), moved forward on a massive reduction in force effort that would reduce the HHS from 82,000 full-time employees to 62,000,
March 27, the HHS announced it would slash 10,000 full-time jobs. These cuts—in line with the DOGE's "workforce optimization" efforts—would save the agency $1.8 billion per year, the HHS said. After factoring in early retirement and the “fork in the road” offering from earlier this year, the agency’s total head count will decrease by 20,000 members, they said.
The wide-reaching job cuts affected employees at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Food and Drug Administration, the CDC and more.
Several days later, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters the HHS estimated 2,000, or 20%, of the recent job cuts at the department were done in error, adding reinstatements were "always part of the plan."
RFK Jr. said at the time that the CDC's Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch was slashed in error.
Wednesday, the entire lead team was rehired, along with its parent group, the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice, according to its newly reinstated director, Erik Svendsen, Ph.D., CNN reported.