Federal Workers Warn of Disruptions as Government Reinstates Laid-Off Employees

During President Donald Trump’s second term, federal employees have faced repeated cycles of layoffs and rehires, with some even being dismissed multiple times. An employee at the Department of Housing and Urban Development described working under this administration as “emotionally very turbulent.”

Recently, more workers are experiencing this upheaval. Following an announcement from Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the federal government began issuing reduction-in-force (RIF) notices amid the ongoing shutdown. Approximately 4,000 employees have already been laid off, mainly across agencies like HUD, the Department of Education, HHS, and the Treasury.

However, many of these employees have already been reinstated. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents over 800,000 federal workers, reported that out of roughly 1,300 CDC employees who received layoffs notices, about 700 were reinstated within a day. Among those affected were critical staff responsible for publishing the Morbidity and Mortality Report, Ebola response teams, and measles response coordinators. An anonymous official suggested that some layoffs resulted from a “coding error.”

The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Report, a vital public health resource published for nearly 150 years, has significant implications for national health strategies. Experts like former CDC official Dr. Demetre Daskalakis warned that the damage from such chaotic layoffs cannot be fully undone, as the disruptions erode the confidence and effectiveness of the public health workforce.

Reacting to the situation, Vice President JD Vance blamed Democrats for the shutdown and its chaos during an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation. Meanwhile, the AFGE announced it has filed a lawsuit against the layoffs, though responses from government officials were not immediately available.