WASHINGTON – Trump administration on Saturday reversed some layoffs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after hundreds of scientists received “incorrect notifications” that they had been laid off during government shutdownThis was reported by an official familiar with the situation.
“The employees who received the incorrect notifications were never separated from the agency, and all were notified that they were not subject to layoffs,” the official told NBC News. “This happened due to a glitch in the system.”
Canceled layoffs first reported The New York Times said it comes just after the administration decided to lay off thousands of federal workers during the government shutdown, sparking a backlash from critics who say the layoffs are illegal.
The force reduction moves are being challenged in court and are the latest fallout from a government shutdown battle that has entered its second week as lawmakers show no sign of moving toward an agreement.
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About 1,100–1,200 employees of the Department of Health and Human Services were sent notices of dismissal on Friday. Friday's court filing indicated that more than 4,000 federal employees have been laid off, although it is unclear how that number has changed since the administration moved to reverse some of the CDC's layoffs.
HHS and the Treasury Department initially accounted for more than half of all layoffs, according to court filings.
Vice President J.D. Vance spoke about the reversal of the layoffs in an interview with CBS News' “Face the Nation,” saying “a government shutdown is bound to lead to some chaos.”
“We are figuring out how to take money from some regions and give it to others,” he said, continuing to blame the Democrats.
Vance said the layoffs were necessary to preserve critical government functions, adding that if they did so, “there would be some chaos.”
“Frankly, Margaret, you are going to fire people that the White House doesn't want to fire,” he continued, addressing moderator Margaret Brennan. “We would like to reopen the government and ensure that these essential services continue, but unfortunately in an environment where we are dealing with limited resources, when the government is closed, we have to move some things around. And in that movement there is some chaos, there is some unpredictability.”
In a separate interview on Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures,” Vance said “the longer this goes on, the deeper the cuts will be.”
“To be clear, some of these cuts will be painful,” he added. “It's not a situation we like. It's not something we're looking forward to, but Democrats have dealt us a pretty tough set of cards.”
Democrats continue to pressure Republicans to negotiate over Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year, causing premiums to rise. Republicans are calling on Democratic senators to abandon their support for a clean short-term funding bill. Funding proposals put forward by both Republicans and Democrats have repeatedly failed in the Senate.
