It started with an email. Then a letter. And for nearly 600 CDC employees, that letter meant the end of their jobs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed this week that permanent termination notices had gone out. Roughly 600 workers many of them in violence prevention programs are now out. And it hit hard. This wasn’t just about numbers. Or budget lines. These were people who spent years fighting everything from child abuse to teen dating violence. Now, their offices are empty. Their programs? Hanging by a thread.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Less than two weeks ago, a gunman sprayed bullets across six CDC buildings in Atlanta. The attack shook staff already stretched thin. Some employees believe the rise in heated political rhetoric and flat-out misinformation has made public health workers easy targets. Fear lingers. And now pink slips arrive.
“First the bullets, then the layoffs,” one employee told reporters. You can feel the bitterness.
Why the cuts? A court ruling gave HHS the green light to move forward after months of legal limbo. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says it’s part of a sweeping reorganization streamlining the CDC and narrowing its focus back to infectious disease. Critics argue it’s a gut punch to community health programs.
The union isn’t taking it quietly. The American Federation of Government Employees says this restructuring strips away essential public health protections. They’ve warned that without these prevention programs, states and local health departments will carry the extra weight. And honestly, many aren’t ready.
It’s not just policy. It’s people. A mother who lost her child to gun violence once leaned on CDC programs for help. A counselor teaching teens about healthy relationships might lose her platform. These aren’t “extras.” They’re lifelines.The big question: what’s next?
More lawsuits are expected.
Congress is sniffing around. Oversight hearings could get ugly.
Security reviews are underway after the Atlanta shooting revealed gaps in campus safety.
For now, though, hundreds of CDC employees are packing up desks. Walking out the door. Wondering if the mission they devoted their careers to is slipping away.
And for public health in America, that feels like more than just a staffing change.