CDC to Lay Off Hundreds in Restructuring
THURSDAY, Aug. 21, 2025 — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is finalizing the termination of at least 600 employees this week, including some working in violence prevention programs.
The cuts come less than two weeks after a man opened fire outside the agency’s Atlanta headquarters, killing a police officer.
“The irony is devastating," more than 50 CDC employees wrote in a joint blog post last week. "The very experts trained to understand, interrupt and prevent this kind of violence were among those whose jobs were eliminated."
The ousters follow a recent federal court decision that offered protection to some CDC employees but not others.
The termination notices were issued as part of a broader government restructuring and downsizing effort led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), reports The Associated Press.
The cuts have affected a wide range of programs. About 100 people who worked in violence prevention were among those let go.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) union, which represents more than 2,000 employees at CDC, told The AP it has not been formally notified of the names of employees being let go.
The recent terminations are a follow-up to a wave of layoffs announced in April, which affected thousands of workers at the CDC and other federal health agencies.
Based on a federal court ruling in Rhode Island, several parts of the CDC remain protected from layoffs, including departments dealing with smoking, reproductive health, sexually transmitted diseases, environmental health, workplace safety and birth defects.
Programs facing cuts include rape prevention, child abuse, teen dating violence and childhood violence tracking in other countries.
"There are nationally and internationally recognized experts that will be ipossible to replace," Tom Simon, retired senior director for scientific programs at the CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention told AP.
AFGE said HHS has not been entirely transparent about the specifics of the layoffs, which has created uncertainty.
Employees were told the terminations went into effect on Monday.
Sources
- The Associated Press, Aug. 20, 2025
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