Working at the CDC Is a Living Hell

"After sheltering under desks and behind barricaded doors while an anti-vaxx gunman sprayed more than 150 bullets into CDC headquarters, and then watching the agency's newly appointed director get forcibly ejected just a few weeks later, it would've seemed that things couldn't get any worse for those employed by the country's foremost public-health agency. But then they got what seemed like an AI-generated email from the new boss."

"O'Neill, a Silicon Valley investor with no medical credentials, lamented in the message that the agency had lost sight of its "core mission" and "lost the American public's trust and faith." He went on to list ways to "earn that trust back," including by "treating our fellow citizens as adults who can make their own informed decisions," and urged staffers to "think big" about ways to advance the Trump administration's "commonsense vision" for the agency."

CDC headquarters in Atlanta endured an armed attack that forced staff to shelter under desks and behind barricaded doors as an anti-vaxx gunman fired more than 150 bullets, killing a police officer and shattering windows. Leadership then changed rapidly: Susan Monarez was fired for not being "aligned with the President's agenda" and Jim O'Neill, a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. deputy and Silicon Valley investor without medical credentials, was appointed to lead the agency. O'Neill sent staff a return-to-office welcome that omitted mention of the shooting, criticized loss of the agency's "core mission" and trust, and urged staff to "earn that trust back" by advancing a "commonsense vision."

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