President Donald Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought followed through on their threats to dismiss federal employees during Friday’s government shutdown.
Sources told News that staff from several major agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were among those terminated.
CDC Coding Error
However, a federal health official later confirmed that a “CDC Coding Error” led to the accidental layoff of key CDC personnel, including workers involved in Ebola response efforts in Africa and measles outbreak control in the United States.
Two sources said that many employees from the CDC office responsible for publishing the agency’s long-standing scientific journal, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) often called “the voice of the CDC” also received termination notices in error.
According to the official, those mistakenly laid off will soon receive formal notifications rescinding their dismissals, likely within a few days.
The error reportedly affected four CDC offices, though hundreds of other Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees are still expected to lose their jobs as part of the ongoing reductions.
