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On Tuesday, current and former researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held an unofficial briefing with journalists to speak about the Trump administration’s latest round of chaotic firings. About 1,000 CDC employees were laid off last week, with about half of them receiving notices shortly after that their firings would be reversed, said Abigail Tighe, a CDC researcher who was laid off earlier this year, and now leads the National Public Health Coalition. 

Together with spurts of mass layoffs earlier this year, almost all the agency’s high-ranking officials have been removed from their positions. Layoffs have undermined the CDC group that oversees HIV testing and prevention work throughout the country; the CDC chronic disease prevention center that helps fund states to conduct cancer screenings and blood pressure monitoring; CDC staffers in Washington, D.C., who update Congress on health emergencies; and much more.

Public health programs cost taxpayers money, but studies show massive savings relative to the investment. For example, every dollar invested into reducing children’s exposure to lead paint saved up to $221 in expenses related to developmental disabilities from lead, including in health care and special education. Another study, from researchers in the United Kingdom, finds that public health programs overall save $14 for every dollar invested.

These layoffs are highly unusual and, lawsuits allege, unlawful. Normally, federal agencies assess a worker’s performance, veteran status, and tenure before laying them off. Instead, entire offices have been abruptly wiped out.

“It’s honestly like the ‘Squid Games,’” said a CDC official who got a “reduction in force” notice last week, and who spoke with journalists anonymously due to a fear of retaliation. “It’s like being in a strange game where there’s no rules and we don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

“You wouldn’t cut the military when threats are rising, so why are we firing our public health responders when measles, fentanyl, and other threats are on the rise?” the official said. “We are public servants who want to promote public health and public safety every day, yet we have been villainized in a targeted smear campaign.” 

Gutting the agency has tormented civil servants. “I personally come from a generational line of public servants who fight for their country,” the official said, citing family members who fought in the Revolutionary War, World Wars I and II, and multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.  

“My heart breaks for my colleagues and friends who have been tormented, traumatized, shot at, threatened daily. These are kind, hard-working, thoughtful people whose lives are being overturned. These are the helpers that Mr. Rogers told us about.”

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