In the whirlwind of chaos that is the Trump administration’s effort to undercut the functioning of the federal government, it mostly seems like a blur of savage cuts, some court interventions, and another blast at multiple other federal departments.
One of the government roles most valued by rational citizens is the Center for Disease Control, the CDC. And here’s how the chainsaw attack on this agency has played out locally.
The CDC has longstanding fellowship programs for early career public health professionals. Oak Park’s health department has benefitted by having one of those fellows placed here. Maya Feuilladieu, a recent graduate of Northwestern, has worked in Oak Park, with her salary paid by the CDC, since October. Her position was eliminated in February as part of the indiscriminate canning of 1,300 probationary employees of the CDC.
But that action was reversed as the Public Health Associates Program was reinstated earlier this month. Feuilladieu returned to work at village hall last week. However, because chaos is the management approach in vogue at the White House, CDC leadership has been ordered to deliver a new plan for slashing staffing at the agency.
This, of course, is no way to run an organization and it is no way to treat decent people.