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‘Targets on Our Backs’: CDC Staff Describe a ‘Hostile’ Work Environment After Repeated Mass Firings

Eight current or recently rehired CDC employees say morale has collapsed after repeated waves of mass firings, retractions and senior resignations under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Staff described an environment where unexpected meetings are feared as preludes to termination and where agency-wide communication has largely dried up. Employees pointed to three major RIF waves in February, April and October and said some colleagues received multiple notices. Even after reinstatements, many staffers say they still do not feel safe or supported.

02:01 AM, 11/22/2025Health
‘Targets on Our Backs’: CDC Staff Describe a ‘Hostile’ Work Environment After Repeated Mass Firings

Hundreds of CDC employees who had been dismissed earlier this year returned to work this week after Congress approved a deal to avert a government shutdown. But several current and recently rehired staffers say the agency remains deeply unsettled following months of mass terminations, retractions and high-level departures.

In reporting by Sophie Gardner, eight employees — most speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation — described an atmosphere of fear, low morale and fractured leadership under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Staff describe fear and churn

Workers said repeated "reduction-in-force" (RIF) notices this year have left many feeling besieged. The RIFs came in three major waves in February, April and October, and some employees were told their dismissals were mistaken and were asked to return. "We know of people who have now received three RIF notices," one staffer said.

'There is a never-ending feeling that we have metaphorical targets on our backs — and a lot of employees feel like they have literal targets on their backs,' one employee told reporters.

Another described the mood in the agency as 'a dead man walking,' and several said that unexpected meetings with senior political officials are now routinely feared as preludes to termination. 'Any time that we are asked to unexpectedly meet with senior politicals, we assume it’s to fire us… It’s basically a hostile work environment,' one staffer said.

Leadership and communication concerns

Employees also reported a sharp decline in communication from agency leadership. Acting CDC Director Jim O'Neill, who took the role in August, has sent just one agency-wide email since starting, and some employees said they have not heard him address the agency directly.

Several interviewees suggested the turmoil is intentional. One staffer alleged that Secretary Kennedy and his team 'harbor personal animus toward CDC' and that the hostility 'started well before the pandemic.' Amy Kirby, who had been leading a project to centralize the agency's disease-surveillance data before most of her team was dismissed in October, said reinstated workers still do not feel safe. 'Even if you’re working on an agency priority, they will still fire you,' she said. 'It is heartbreaking. I’m sad for our country that we don’t have CDC at its best.'

What this means

Staffers warned that the repeated cycles of firing and rehiring, combined with limited leadership communication and perceived political targeting, have damaged institutional morale and could hamper the CDC's ability to carry out its public-health mission. While many dismissed employees are being reinstated following legislative action, several say that returning to work has not erased the sense of insecurity and mistrust that the upheaval created.

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