• Posted March 12, 2025

Dozens Of Laid-Off CDC Workers Push To Get Their Jobs Back

A group of former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employees is fighting to get their jobs back after being abruptly laid off last month.

In a letter sent Monday to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CDC leadership, they argue their dismissals were unfair and violated due process. 

Now, with a looming deadline that could officially end their employment status, they’re pushing for immediate action.

The employees, all in their probationary period at the CDC, make up about 14% of the staff cut on Valentine’s Day.

They worked in divisions focused on cancer prevention, infectious disease readiness, overdose prevention and global health, among other areas. 

If not reinstated, many will officially lose their paid administrative leave and be fired on Friday, four weeks after receiving their termination notices.

“We maintain that the manner in which we were terminated did not follow due process requirements and should be found as not lawful. We respectfully request that [HHS] continue to follow through on its high standards for accountability and commitment to transparency and lawful professional conduct,” the letter said, according to the health news service STAT.

The push for reinstatement follows a shift in government guidance, too. 

Last week, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) updated its rules, stating that agencies have “ultimate decision-making authority over, and responsibility for,” personnel matters, STAT reported.

However, OPM hasn't overturned the layoffs.

The American Federation of Government Employees has since urged agencies to rehire affected workers, a point emphasized in the letter to Kennedy.

“In the past two years, CDC determined that each of our positions was important to the agency’s mission and identified us as the most qualified individuals through its rigorous hiring process,” the letter said. “All of us have demonstrated our dedication to CDC’s public health mission and commitment to serving the American people.” 

While some agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC, have rehired a portion of the terminated workers, many are still without jobs and face an increasingly competitive job market in health and science.

More information

Read more updates at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

SOURCE: STAT, March 11, 2025