Sen. John Ossoff (D-Ga.) has denounced the Trump administration for his decision to fire more than 1,000 Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employees in a day.
“If you fire over 1,000 CDC personnel unprotectedly and indiscriminately in a day, Americans are exposed to illness and destroy the careers and livelihoods of the world's most talented physicians and scientists,” Ossoff stated. stated in.
In the Trump administration's initiative, around 1,300 CDC employees make up about 10% of agency staff, but have lost their jobs to eliminate probation positions.
Leadership at the Atlanta-based agency was notified of the decision Friday morning, verbal notice from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and at a meeting with CDC leader, federal officials attending the meeting were He told The Associated Press. The officials were not authorized to discuss it and spoke to the AP anonymously.
On Wednesday, Ossoff criticized the Senate confirmation of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., pointing to Kennedy's public comparison of CDC work with “Nazi Death Camp.”
“If this administration encourages the CDC to joke around, who is going to protect the nation from Ebola? Who will protect the children from measles? [tuberculosis]? ” he asked in a Senate speech.
With a core budget of $9.2 billion, the CDC is responsible for protecting Americans from health threats, including outbreaks. Before the cuts, the agency had 13,000 employees and over 2,000 people worked outside the US.
The CDC has a long history as a respected global leader in disease management, partly due to a major team of international health professionals, and has a reliable source of health information.
On Thursday, the Department of Personnel Management (OPM) directed federal agencies to begin termination of probation employees who have been in their role for more than a year.
These employees have some employment protections, but it's easy to dismiss them during the probationary period. This can last up to two years depending on the agency.
