After pressure from Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock and others, the Trump Administration has reinstated the jobs of over 400 CDC workers who were fired.
In early April, about 2,400 CDC employees lost their jobs due to cuts across federal health agencies. Multiple programs at the CDC were shut down, including programs focused on smoking, gun violence, and workplace safety and health. Along with these programs cut, the office of Freedom of Information Act requests was completely shut down.
On Wednesday, June 11th, about 400 of these employees received notice that their jobs had been reinstated, with little information provided.
This comes in part after a months-long battle between Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock and now instated Deputy Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy. Senator Warnock spoke at Secretary Kennedy’s nomination hearing. He defended the importance of the CDC, who employs more than 10,000 Georgians.
“This is yet one more example that when we raise our voices, we win. I think that what we’re seeing is that these CDC workers do such important work, keeping us safe, keeping us healthy, that some have taken their work for granted. And over time we will see the critical work that they are doing. They had to rehire the very people they fired,” Senator Warnock said in a video on X, formerly Twitter, after the reinstatement of the CDC workers.
