The Trump administration is slashing about 1,300 employees, or 10% of the workforce, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to two agency employees who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak for the agency. Staff were notified Friday of the cuts.
And as many as 1,500 employees at the National Institutes of Health were also laid off Friday, according to an employee at the agency who was not authorized to speak publicly,.
"Lots of tears here," according to another who asked not to be named out of fears of losing their job.
The layoffs at both agencies targeted probationary employees — a broad category that includes recent hires and long-time staffers who were recently moved to a new position. At the NIH, there may be some exceptions for certain personnel, such as those involved in clinical care, the employee said.
"This is absolutely tragic," said one current CDC employee. "If we lose these people we lose important capacity and in a very real sense we lose our CDC future."
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