Just a few weeks after summarily firing hundreds of employees, the Trump administration is now notifying some staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that they’re back on the job.
On Tuesday, an unknown number of CDC staff began receiving emails stating that their letters of termination were being rescinded, according to emails reviewed by NPR and interviews with more than half a dozen sources at the agency who were not authorized to speak publicly.
“As a result, your physical and logical access has been restored and you are cleared to return to work on Wednesday, March 5, 2025” the email states. “We apologize for any disruption that this may have caused.”
As NPR reported, around 750 CDC workers – mostly those who were still in their probationary periods – were fired last month, citing inadequate performance as the justification, even though those who spoke with NPR had records of stellar work.
Now, some of those same employees are being asked to return immediately to their previous roles. The CDC and Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“None of this is normal,” said one CDC employee who received the email stating they should return to work. “There’s no rhyme or reason that I can tell.”
This comes on the same day that the Trump administration has revised a Jan. 20 memo asking federal agencies to provide a list of all probationary employees to the Office of Personnel Management, adding a disclaimer that OPM is not directing agencies to take any specific action.
Staff in several parts of the CDC were rehired, including members of two training fellowships, the Laboratory Leadership Service program and the Public Health Associate Program, as of Tuesday evening.
“I truly don’t understand what happened, but I’m grateful,” said one current CDC staffer.
The reversal has evoked surprise and cautious optimism among recipients that spoke with NPR, though they also have fears for the near future.
“They are remarkably good at gaslighting and making people question reality,” said one current CDC employee, who had not yet heard whether any of their staff were being rehired.
Tuesday’s notices offer no protections against future reductions in force to government agencies, ordered by President Trump last month.
Those plans are underway. Agencies are required to submit plans to restructure by the end of next week.
On Monday, HHS offered early retirement to eligible employees under the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, which “allows agencies that are undergoing substantial restructuring, reshaping, downsizing, transfer of function or reorganization to temporarily lower the age and service requirements in order to increase the number of employees who are eligible for retirement,” according to emails reviewed by NPR.