The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week issued final termination notices to about 600 employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cementing the first wave of job cuts in a sweeping reorganization unveiled by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in March. A federal judge earlier this month cleared most of the reductions, blocking dismissals only in six specialised divisions. Many of the affected employees had been on paid administrative leave since April while the case moved through the courts. HHS says the workforce reduction is part of a plan to eliminate roughly 10,000 positions across the department—including 2,400 at the CDC—aimed at curbing what Kennedy called “bureaucratic sprawl” and redirecting resources toward chronic-disease prevention. Officials estimate the changes will save taxpayers about $1.8 billion a year. The timing has sparked pushback from the American Federation of Government Employees, which argued the move compounds trauma just two weeks after a gunman fired hundreds of rounds at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, killing a police officer. In a separate step, HHS has begun withdrawing recognition of unions representing staff at the CDC, Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health and several other offices. Programs hit by the layoffs include branches devoted to global HIV and tuberculosis, maternal and child health, oral health and injury prevention. Entire units within the Division of Violence Prevention were also shuttered, raising concerns among current and former staff about the agency’s capacity to address long-standing public-health threats.