There was good news out of the Administration this week, with many RIF-ed CDC staff being re-hired…and challenging news, with the firing of all currently serving members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). And there was lots of sausage-making in Congress, with both the Reconciliation package and the FY2025 Recissions package moving through their processes. (Seriously, so many “re” words to learn right now.)

CDC Staff Re-Hired: The CDC has reinstated more than 400 people who had received layoff notices. The rehiring marks the largest number of employees that the agency has asked back to date. Around half of those employees are in the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention, including staffer at the STD lab. In April, roughly 2,400 CDC employees received termination notices amid a massive reorganization of the Department of HHS, but the agency has rehired some staff over the past few months.

Changes at CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP): Earlier this week, HHS Secretary Kennedy fired all 17 of the currently-serving members of this committee, a panel that advises the CDC on vaccines. ACIP votes on updates to the CDC’s vaccine schedule and the CDC director has the power to overrule those recommendations but rarely does. Secretary Kennedy announced eight picks to replace these 17, several of whom lack the expertise to vet vaccine research and at least a couple who have spoken out against vaccines.

Reconciliation: As a reminder, this is a package of changes to federal mandatory programs (ie, Medicaid, taxes, SNAP) that only require (if written correctly! See: Byrd Rule) 50 votes in the Senate to pass, unlike other funding bills which require 60 votes in the Senate. (Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate.) Said another way—this bill is like pulling up perennial bulbs in your garden. (Mandatory programs are federal programs that come up year after year unless you dig them up, like through legislation or a reconciliation bill.)

This week, the House made changes to its’ original-passed reconciliation bill. In order to not run afoul (intended “bird” joke) of the Byrd Rule, the House removed $2 billion in military intelligence funding, a mining provision affecting Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, and a policy narrowing SNAP eligibility for some utility-assisted households, and an employee retention tax credit.

Over in the Senate, Senate Republicans are hoping for a floor vote on their version of the reconciliation package the last week of June. Still being negotiated, there are possible changes to Medicaid and the cap on state and local tax deductions. The Senate Agriculture Committee released its reconciliation text yesterday. The proposal would require states to pay a share of the cost of food stamps if their payment rates are greater than 6 percent but would set the cost-sharing obligation at a lower level than the House did in its bill.

FY2025 Rescission Package:  Yesterday, the House passed the $9.4B rescission package requested by White House. The bill would cut $8.3 billion in foreign aid and $1.1 billion for public broadcasting. The vote was 214-212.  The rescission is the first bill requested by the Trump administration to take back money that was already appropriated. (This is like pulling up annual plants after they have started growing.) This package will now go to the Senate for consideration.