{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-ossoff-demand-answers-on-previously-unreported-cdc-staffing-cuts/", "Warnock, Ossoff Demand Answers on Previously Unreported CDC Staffing Cuts", "2025-09-18", "2025", "2025-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "GA", "Raphael G. Warnock", "W000790", "www.warnock.senate.gov", "warnock", "https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff pressed CDC Acting Director O\u2019Neill for an explanation as to why public health experts and scientists hired under the Title 42 Service Fellowship Authority are seeing their appointments expire\n\nUnder Secretary Kennedy\u2019s failed leadership, the CDC has seen a mass dismissal of its personnel \u2013 actions that have been deeply damaging to the agency\u2019s ability to fulfill its mission\n\nEarlier this month, Senator Warnock called on President Trump to fire Secretary Kennedy\n\nSecretary Kennedy\u2019s incompetence has impacted chronic disease and cancer research, harmed efforts to protect service member\u2019s health, and jeopardized America\u2019s public health infrastructure to respond to infectious disease\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) asked Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Acting Director James O\u2019Neill for an explanation as to why public health experts and scientists hired under the Title 42 Service Fellowship Authority are seeing their appointments expire. The Senators urge the new acting Director to reverse any plans to allow these appointments to expire and request answers to their questions regarding the agency\u2019s plans.\n\n\u201cLetting these Title 42 service fellowship and term appointments lapse effectively terminates these scientists and public health experts and is counterproductive and harmful to the CDC\u2019s critical public health mission,\u201d the senators write.\n\nThe Title 42 Service Fellowship Authority allows CDC to hire \u201cphysicians, industrial hygienists, epidemiologists, health scientists, engineers, and data experts who provide the evidence that public health decisions are built on\u201d. Title 42 service fellows include highly skilled scientists with expectational subject-matter expertise in cutting-edge public health area who fill key technical gaps.\n\nLast month, Senator Warnock reaffirmed his commitment to supporting Georgia\u2019s CDC employees following the shooting at the CDC that claimed the life of a DeKalb County police officer. Senator Warnock pushed for accountability after the firing of CDC Director Monarez and the attack at the Atlanta campus in a September 5 hearing, subsequently calling on President Trump to fire Secretary Kennedy. Earlier this year, Senator Warnock voted against Secretary Kennedy to lead HHS, the agency that oversees the CDC, due to concerns over disturbing comments and long-held beliefs of Kennedy that would threaten health care costs, quality, and access for millions of Georgians and Americans. Since the CDC and its employees became a target of this administration, Senator Warnock has led several efforts defending their employment and the crucial role they play in keeping the nation safe.\n\nRead full text of the letter HERE and below:\n\nActing Director O\u2019Neill,\n\nWe write to express deep concern over disturbing reports that the Trump administration is allowing the appointments of health scientists and public health experts hired under the Title 42 Service Fellowship Authority (42 U.S.C \u00a7 209 (g)) and other term appointments at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who have reached their renewal dates, to expire without extending their appointments. This action is one of several in direct conflict with Secretary Kennedy\u2019s May 14, 2025, testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, in which he stated, \u201cwe have not fired any working scientists\u2026 our policy was to make sure none of them were lost and that that research continues.\u201d Letting these Title 42 service fellowship and term appointments lapse effectively terminates these scientists and public health experts and is counterproductive and harmful to the CDC\u2019s critical public health mission. As the new Acting Director of CDC, we urge you to reverse any plans to allow these appointments to expire and request answers to questions regarding your plans.\n\nUnder Secretary Kennedy\u2019s leadership, the Department of Health and Human Services has overseen the mass dismissal of CDC personnel\u2014actions that have been deeply damaging to the agency\u2019s ability to fulfil its mission. We have seen evidence of employees being hastily recalled after their absence disrupted critical operations, raising serious questions about the planning and oversight of this process. To date, there has been no clear public accounting of how many staff were let go, how many were reinstated, or how many highly specialized researchers were terminated. The lack of transparency suggests that the scope of these layoffs is far greater than the administration has publicly acknowledged\u2014and that the consequences for our nation\u2019s public health infrastructure will be severe.\n\nThe Title 42 Service Fellowship Authority (42 U.S.C \u00a7 209 (g)) allows CDC to hire \u201cphysicians, industrial hygienists, epidemiologists, health scientists, engineers, and data experts who provide the evidence that public health decisions are built on.\u201d Title 42 service fellows include highly skilled scientists with exceptional subject matter expertise in cutting-edge public health areas who fill key technical gaps.\n\nFailure to renew Title 42 service fellows and term employee appointments at CDC has already led to the disruption of critical ongoing public health research and disease surveillance and the inability of CDC to retain and recruit the next generation of public health scientists from its public health training programs. By letting Title 42 service fellowship and term employee appointments expire or not allowing extensions to their renewal dates, this administration is facilitating the complete erosion of scientific expertise, institutional knowledge, and public health preparedness at the CDC. This damage will take decades to reverse.\n\nDue to the urgency of this issue, we request a response to the following questions by September 30, 2025:\n\nSince January 21, 2025, how many Title 42 service fellowships at CDC lapsed after meeting the Not-To-Exceed (NTE) date? Please list the Centers and divisions at CDC that were affected.\n\nSince January 21, 2025, how many Title 42 service fellowships at CDC were terminated before the NTE date? Please list the Centers and divisions at CDC that were affected.\n\nSince January 21, 2025, how many Title 42 service fellowships at CDC have been renewed? Please list the Centers and divisions at CDC where these fellows are placed.\n\nSince January 21, 2025, how many Title 42 service fellowships expired despite being recommended for renewal by CDC leadership? Please list the Centers and divisions at CDC that were affected.\n\nAs of September 1, 2025, how many staff are employed at CDC?\n\nAs of September 1, 2025, how many Title 42 service fellows worked at CDC?\n\nSince January 21, 2025, how many term and/or temporary employee appointments lapsed before their NTE date? Please list the Centers and divisions at CDC that were affected.\n\nSince January 21, 2025, how many term and/or temporary employee appointments have been subjected to reductions in force? Please list the Centers and divisions at CDC that were affected.\n\na. Of these, how many have been separated? Please list the Centers and divisions at CDC that were affected.\n\nSince January 21, 2025, how many term and/or temporary appointments at CDC were terminated before the NTE date? Please list the Centers and divisions at CDC that were affected.\n\nSince January 21, 2025, how many term and/or temporary employee appointments expired despite being recommended for renewal by CDC leadership? Please list the Centers and divisions at CDC that were affected.\n\nAs of September 1, 2025, how many term and/or temporary full-time employment (FTE) appointments are there at CDC?\n\nHow do you plan to manage grants, contracts, and cooperative agreement funds, as required by law, when employees who oversee these funds are let go?\n\nIn keeping in line with Secretary Kennedy\u2019s commitment to radical transparency, we look forward to receiving answers to the above questions by the requested date.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-ossoff-demand-answers-on-previously-unreported-cdc-staffing-cuts/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.5983340349048376, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}