Overview

• Roughly 1,300 CDC employees received reduction-in-force notices on Friday, and about 700 were later told the terminations were sent in error.
• HHS attributed the rescinded notices to a coding mistake, while asserting affected workers had been designated nonessential by their divisions.
• About 600 CDC staff remain separated after the partial reversal, raising concerns about operational capacity during concurrent measles and Ebola responses.
• Initial targets included Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report editors, and measles and Ebola response teams, many of whom were reinstated.
• Unions have sued to block the broader firings across agencies, with a federal judge set to hear arguments this week, as reports describe low morale and broader cuts at HHS units including SAMHSA and ASPR.