Some high-level officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been offered the opportunity to transfer to remote field offices within the Indian Health Service, including locations in Alaska, according to internal emails obtained by several reporters. If they don’t accept reassignment, they may need to be looking for work elsewhere.
The move comes as the Department of Government Efficiency, run by Elon Musk, is reducing personnel across many federal agencies.
In addition to Alaska, there are vacancies in the health services that need to be filled across Indian Country in Western and Great Plain states, including New Mexico, Minnesota, Montana, the Navajo Reservation, and Oklahoma.
“The department is proposing to reassign you as part of a broader effort to strengthen the department,” read an email sent to affected CDC personnel. “One critical area of need is in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This underserved community deserves the highest quality of service, and HHS needs individuals like you to deliver that service.”
Among those receiving the offers are the chief tobacco regulator at the Food and Drug Administration; a manager at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; a microbiology and infectious disease researcher at NIAID; a director at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and a director at the CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics.
Employees were given until Wednesday at 5 pm to indicate if they will accept a transfer.
