TV News LIES

The firings of hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have been reversed, according to several reports citing officials familiar with the matter, and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest union representing federal workers.

On Friday, the White House budget office announced that as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, reductions in force (RIFs) across agencies have begun.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which houses the CDC, initially said that all employees that received layoff notices “were designated non-essential by their respective divisions”.

However, over the weekend, the administration rescinded more than half of the 1,300 termination notices it sent to public health officials at the CDC, according to Axios and Reuters, citing sources familiar. Around 600 people at the agency remain fired.

On Saturday, the New York Times reported that members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), informally known as “disease detectives”, as well as the team that compiles the widely respected scientific journal, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, were among the employees reinstated.

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Scrolling through social media during a work break, Alexandra realized she was going to lose her new job.

An X account with over 500,000 followers had reposted a screenshot of a Facebook post she'd made about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

"You log onto Twitter and you see half a million people following a page, including Elon Musk. They're saying, you better fire this person," said Alexandra. "I knew that they were going to fire me because of the pressure by the mob."

The X account also named Alexandra and her employer. NPR is not naming the X account and also only using Alexandra's middle name because she is concerned about her safety.

Less than three hours after the X post about her, Alexandra's employer fired her via email. There was no conversation, Alexandra said. She had started the cybersecurity job just two weeks before.

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President Donald Trump appeared to forget that he was the president during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in Washington, D.C. — and instead blamed former President Joe Biden and “The Biden FBI” for the violent and unprecedented attack.

“THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6,” Trump wrote at 12:38 a.m in a Truth Social post. “If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM - DO SOMETHING!!!”

Trump made the false claim despite the fact that Biden was not sworn into office until two weeks later on Jan. 20, 2021, during the inauguration. Trump’s nominee, Christopher Wray, was serving as director of the FBI at the time of the attack.

In December 2024, the Department of Justice said it found no evidence that the FBI, which classified the attacks as an act of domestic terrorism, had any involvement in the Jan. 6 riots that led to multiple deaths and injuries to dozens of law enforcement officers.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump told his supporters at his “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington, D.C., to “fight like hell” against what he claimed was a stolen election.

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President Trump’s plans to use the Justice Department to seek revenge against his perceived enemies may have just hit a major roadblock. Earlier this month, Memphis federal district court judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. issued an opinion in the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia in response to a motion to dismiss for vindictive and selective prosecution.

The judge found “that the totality of events” surrounding the bringing of the Abrego indictment “creates a sufficient evidentiary basis to conclude that there is a ‘realistic likelihood of vindictiveness,’” entitling him to discovery and an evidentiary hearing before his motion is decided.

This decision has wide-ranging ramifications. It is likely the death knell of the indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), as well as other perceived enemies whom Trump has threatened for prosecution solely for political revenge. Trump’s enemies list includes Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and former CIA Director John Brennan.

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The Trump administration laid off more than 4,100 employees Friday amid the ongoing government shutdown, according to a new court filing from the Justice Department. 

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston had ordered the administration to hand over the information in a lawsuit government unions filed just before the shutdown began.

Various agencies have since confirmed the layoffs, but the government’s new court filing provides the clearest picture yet of the breadth of the cuts.

The most significant layoffs took place at the Treasury Department, with 1,446 employees receiving RIF notices Friday.

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which would have required sweeping changes on campus in exchange for a funding advantage in federal grant awards.

The 10-point memo was provided to nine higher learning institutions last week, requiring reforms such as a rewiring of the admissions process by adjusting the consideration of race or ethnicity, student grading and demanding that transgender women be excluded from women’s locker rooms and sports teams.

The document “includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution,” reads a Friday letter from MIT President Sally Kornbluth to Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

“And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone,” she added. 

MIT is the first institution to publicly rebuke the offer, in spite of its ties to preferential funding.

TVNL Comment:  Congratulations to MIT for making this decision!

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