The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it is trying to reverse the firing of staffers who worked on the government's response to bird flu, amidst growing concerns about its spread.
Tens of thousands of workers across the federal government have been told they are losing their jobs, and more layoffs and firings are in the works. The USDA is among multiple health agencies that have faced mass firings.
On Friday, the USDA publicly touted what it called "the first tranche in a series of bold reforms," including "an aggressive plan to optimize its workforce by eliminating positions that are no longer necessary," in line with the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Within days, however, the agency sought to reverse some of those firings — particularly those related to its handling of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
"Although several positions supporting HPAI were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters," a spokesperson wrote in a statement shared with NPR. It was first reported by NBC News on Tuesday.
The agency continues to prioritize its response to bird flu, the spokesperson added.
Several job categories — including veterinarians and animal health technicians — have been "exempted from the recent personnel actions" to support those efforts. The USDA also says it is "continuing to hire the workforce necessary to ensure the safety and adequate supply of food to fulfill our statutory mission."
The H5 bird flu is widespread in wild birds globally, causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows. Many Americans are now feeling the impact, with egg prices high and supply low. The outbreak has also gotten some people sick.
There have been 68 confirmed U.S. cases of bird flu since 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There has been one confirmed death, of a person in Louisiana, in January. The CDC says the "current public health risk is low."
However, the Trump administration's efforts to slash the federal workforce — including at numerous health agencies — and restrict public health communications have been cause for concern to many in those fields, as NPR has reported.
The first bird flu study from the CDC published under the Trump administration — released after a delay last week — suggested that some spillovers from dairy cattle into veterinarians who worked with them have gone undetected.
This isn't the only department trying to reverse firings
Several Democratic lawmakers were quick to lay the blame for the bird flu firings on DOGE and Elon Musk, who effectively runs it.
"This is what happens when you let a bunch of inexperienced hacks tear down vital government agencies and services," tweeted Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. "Elon Musk and the DOGE boys are playing with people's lives and our national security, and we need to shut them down."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota also amplified reports of USDA's efforts to rehire staffers working on bird flu, writing, "They were 'accidentally' fired by the administration."
Amidst mass layoffs across the entire federal government, the USDA isn't the first federal agency that has reversed course on certain terminations.
Last week, chaos unfolded at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) — the civilian agency that oversees the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile — where officials were given hours to fire hundreds of employees as part of broader Department of Energy layoffs on Thursday.
The process sparked confusion among employees and concern from lawmakers, given the national security implications. Some critics suggested the Trump administration had carried out the layoffs without understanding the scope of the NNSA's work.
"The DOGE people are coming in with absolutely no knowledge of what these departments are responsible for," Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, told the Associated Press. "They don't seem to realize that it's actually the department of nuclear weapons more than it is the Department of Energy."
On Friday, the NNSA director issued a memo rescinding the firings of all but some two dozen employees, according to the AP.
The story didn't end there, however. Citing an internal NNSA email, NBC News reported that agency officials struggled over the weekend to contact some of those employees to inform them about their reinstatement, since they had lost access to their government email accounts after being fired.
When asked on Tuesday if he had any concerns about how the NNSA firings had been handled, President Trump told reporters, "No, not at all, I think we have to just do what we have to do."
"It's amazing what's being found right now — it's amazing," Trump added. "Some, if we feel that, in some cases, they'll fire people and then they'll put some people back, not all of them, because a lot of people were let go."
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