By Paul Bolster
The future of our neighbors and the programs they implement at the Center For Disease Control (CDC) are at risk.
News reports highlight the firing of 1,300 employees, of which 1,000 were employed at the headquarters here in Atlanta. Most were at the early stage of their careers and routinely on probation pending good performance. Many were involved in projects focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, which the Trump administration has sought to eliminate from receiving federal support. Early reports have said that half of the staff of the Epidemic Investigation Service (EIS), which documents and investigates breakouts of infectious diseases like the bird flu and measles, have been let go. These employees were on probation, but all are highly trained professionals—MDs and PhDs. Only one in ten applicants survive the extreme competition to be chosen for EIS.
The Porch Press talked anonymously to one of our neighbors who is still employed. We wanted to understand the impact of the changes on the employees of CDC and on our neighborhoods. The employee still has a job but feels that a future career in public health is at risk. He/she knows 40 CDC employees who live in our neighborhoods and believes there are many more.
“It is hard for people outside the organization to see what is being lost. Our job is to prevent bad things from happening and when we succeed it’s not seen.” So when a kid down the street doesn’t commit suicide or overdose, we don’t see that? “That’s right.”
CDC employees cannot talk about about what is going on. First, to serve on a nonprofit community board, they must get the approval of an ethics committee to make sure there is no possible political conflict of interest resulting from their service. Second, they will be fired if they talk. There is software installed on each employee’s computer that monitors all communication, which can be searched using AI tools. She/he shut off the phone before we talked out of fear that the phone might be able to monitor our conversation and that she/he could be fired for talking to The Porch Press.
“People outside the CDC aren’t talking about it. My partner says no one at work is talking about the issues.” Governor Kemp expressed no concern about the jobs lost in the state. He said the federal government could “use some rightsizing.”
So what is the effect of the CDC’s “reduction in force” on our neighborhood? First there will be more traffic because everyone has to go the office five days a week. There will be more demand for daycare since parents with young children will not be caring for them at home. Pickup times will extend due to long commutes home. Long term, some CDC neighbors will look for homes closer to the required work site. Most live in two-person professional households, but if one job goes away, there will quickly be fewer lunches and dinners out and fewer trips to the coffee shop.
“We are frightened for our jobs and families but more frightened for the people we are sworn to serve. The public’s health is being put at risk.”
What has the firing process been like? “The President signs a vague order. The agency sends out a vague memo. The program heads were given a list of people on Friday of the people who would be terminated by an email by 5:00pm. The program heads called the employees on the list to give them a heads up. The emails did not come on Friday but did come on Saturday evening for many but not all on the list. The email said the firing was due to a bad review. My friend who was fired had only A-plus reviews. There was not a valid reason for the firing. The importance of programs did not matter. People who have been at the CDC beyond the probation period have more rights under the Civil Service laws, but even a one-year employee has right to a valid reason. These young employees who have been recruited and trained are the future of the organization. What business fires all of its new recruits?” “They are hollowing out the civil service. That’s frightening.”
She/he wishes that other people from across the political spectrum could see what is happening to these public servants. When prevention efforts are stopped, disease is spread in the community and people die. It is hard for people whose words are monitored to tell the story of what they do each day.
One retired CDC research scientist told The Porch Press that the crippling of EIS is like “playing catch with nitroglycerin. We are one or two small mutations away from the bird flu, untreatable TB, Ebola, or other air-transmittable viruses from spreading among humans. We need to track new viruses that might be developing in southeast Asia or Africa so we can stop them from racing across the globe if they jump to humans. Some of these viruses are more easily transmitted than Covid. One of these outbreaks could make COVID look like a common cold.”
This scientist recommended we go back and review the 2012 movie Contagion which was made with close CDC collaboration.
