Federal employees in mental health and disease control were among targets in weekend firings

By ALI SWENSON and JONEL ALECCIA NEW YORK AP Hundreds of federal employees working on mental wellness services affection outbreaks and calamity preparedness were among those hit by the Trump administration s mass firings over the weekend current and laid-off workers mentioned Monday as the administration aimed to pressure Democratic lawmakers to give in and end the nearly two-week-long authorities shutdown Related Articles This shutdown feels different Various worry states might not get repaid when regime reopens Mentoring Department layoffs hit offices that oversee special instruction and civil rights enforcement Stricter visa rules have Colorado employers that rely on foreign workers scrambling Air traffic controllers who duck unpaid work during the shutdown could be fired Duffy warns Qatari facility to be built in Idaho Defense Secretary Hegseth says The government-wide reduction-in-force initiative that began Friday roiled the massive U S Department of Physical condition and Human Services just six months after it went through an earlier round of cuts and as numerous staffers already were disconnected from work because of the shutdown The situation turned even more chaotic over the weekend when more than half of the U S Centers for Disorder Control and Prevention employees who d gotten layoff notices learned they received them in error and were still employed with the agency HHS through its agencies is responsible for tracking physical condition trends and condition outbreaks conducting and funding health research and monitoring the safety of food and medicine as well as for administering strength insurance programs for nearly half the country Among the HHS agencies facing staff cuts were the CDC the Substance Abuse and Mental Strength Services Administration or SAMHSA and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response or ASPR according to current and laid-off employees who spoke with The Associated Press Former staffers and soundness professionals commented they were concerned the layoffs could have negative strength impacts and make it challenging for HHS agencies to fulfill their obligations set by Congress HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon announced the laid off employees were deemed nonessential He added the agency is working to close wasteful and duplicative entities including those that are at odds with the Trump administration s Make America Healthy Again agenda Nixon declined to share which HHS agencies saw layoffs or how a large number of HHS employees were affected However a Friday court filing from the Trump administration gave an estimate saying about to of the nearly staffers at HHS were receiving dismissal notices CDC is hit with layoffs and reversals About workers at the CDC remained fired Monday in conjunction with the federal authorities shutdown after hundreds more had originally been targeted according to the American Federation of Leadership Employees Local which represents CDC employees in Atlanta Of more than CDC employees who received reduction-in-force notices Friday about later received emails revoking their terminations the union commented The AFGE Local called the action a politically-motivated stunt to illegally fire agency workers These reckless actions are disrupting and destroying the lives of everyday working people who are constantly being used as bargaining chips AFGE President Yolanda Jacobs declared in a announcement Monday A federal healthcare official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media stated the incorrect RIF notices resulted from a glitch in the system Among those targeted for dismissal and then reinstated were the CDC s Epidemic Intelligence Provision officers the ailment detectives who are deployed to respond to outbreaks that threaten general soundness disclosed Dr Anne Schuchat former principal deputy director of the CDC who revealed she was in touch with EIS officers in that situation These are people who go into really scary places Schuchat noted Usually you think it s nature that s going to be giving you a hard time the viruses not the authorities Mental physical condition services cut in sweeping dismissals at agency SAMHSA an agency within HHS devoted to addressing mental illness and addiction also saw cuts according to two employees of the agency with knowledge of the layoffs who weren t authorized to speak publicly While the full scope of the firings wasn t clear certain of the departments affected included the agency s Office of Communications and the Center for Mental Physical condition Services where dozens were let go from multiple areas according to one of the employees Within CMHS one of two branches that oversaw millions of dollars in grants for neighborhood robustness clinics was mostly terminated the employees noted Dakota Jablon a constituents wellbeing analyst and former employee of SAMHSA commented the loss of more staff at SAMHSA primarily a grantmaking agency would have devastating ripple effects across the behavioral physical condition field Even if the grants continue the loss of experienced staff means those who remain will be stretched far too thin often outside their areas of expertise she explained Dr Eric Rafla-Yuan a psychiatrist and the chair of the Committee to Protect Population Mental Robustness stated staff cuts at SAMHSA could put state safety nets for people with mental illness at menace because the agency provides important funding and patronage to state programs Latest layoffs build on earlier cuts as HHS looks to restructure The mass layoffs come six months after thousands of researchers scientists doctors assistance staff and senior leaders were either laid off from HHS or took early retirement or volunteer separation offers The department s staff was listed at just under employees in a contingency plan before the leadership shutdown began down more than from its staffing level earlier in the year The cuts are part of Wellbeing Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr s sweeping effort to remake the department by consolidating agencies that oversee billions of dollars for addiction services and neighborhood fitness centers under a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America The plan has been delayed amid ongoing provision and congressional pushback Aleccia informed from Southern California AP clinical writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this assessment