On Tuesday, the Trump administration, with input from billionaire Elon Musk, began firing staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This was part of a larger plan to cut 10,000 jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Ashley, an FDA employee, described the scene as staff were forced to show their badges at the building entrance. Those who had been fired were given a ticket and told to go home.
“It was a surreal moment,” Ashley said, recalling the sudden and unexpected way the layoffs were handled.
The layoffs affected staff at various divisions within the CDC, including the National Center for Environmental Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, according to a second source.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment.
