ATLANTA — The union president for workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells 11Alive that some employees with the agency claim the Department of Government Efficiency — led by Elon Musk — has been to the agency’s Atlanta headquarters. Another source also told 11Alive that a DOGE representative had visited.
The Washington Post also reported that five sources confirmed the same information to its news outlet, adding that DOGE officials have also visited the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — and met with the Labor Department to look into accessing sensitive data.
Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that some of the other areas of government that the DOGE team has moved swiftly to begin examining reportedly include the Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Trump administration has said DOGE is meant to identify and reduce government fraud and waste.
As for the Atlanta-based CDC, Yolanda Jacobs, the union president for workers, said she got the news from CDC employees, but didn’t know what day a representative was here. Jacobs said she continues to hear from countless employees that are worried about job security.
So far, several CDC employees were suspended unexpectedly, told they would be on paid leave indefinitely.
Jacobs said Thursday will be a stressful day for many who work there. President Donald Trump previously announced a plan to offer buyouts to federal employees through a “deferred resignation program.” The program deadline is Thursday, Feb. 6. Officials said employees who accept the buyout will be able to stop working and still collect a check until the end of September.
Jacobs said some employees are fearful of what happens with their jobs in the future if they decide not to take the buyout.
RELATED: Trump administration offers buyout to all federal workers with pay through September
More on Elon Musk and DOGE
Musk has been named as a special government employee, which subjects him to less stringent rules on ethics and financial disclosures than other workers.
President Trump has given Musk office space in the White House complex where he oversees a team of people at DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency.
His team has been dispersed throughout federal agencies to gather information and deliver edicts. With President Trump’s blessing, the billionaire CEO is moving to fire or sideline career government officials, gain access to sensitive databases and dismantle agencies he disfavors.
“Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday.
Musk’s work has unnerved federal employees who are being nudged toward the exits. Concerns have swept through the workforce that they could be locked out of internal human resources system, denying them access to their own personnel files that showed pay history, length of service and qualifications. Supervisors in some agencies encouraged employees to download their records, called an SF-50, to personal computers so that they could prove their employment history in the event of disputes.
Democrats have contended that Musk is “seizing power from the American people,” as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) put it.
“Whatever DOGE is doing, it is certainly not — not — what democracy looks like or has ever looked like in the grand history of this country,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.
Responding to Schumer’s criticisms, Musk said on his X platform: “Hysterical reactions like this is how you know that DOGE is doing work that really matters.”
The president, Musk and Republicans supportive of the project to remake the government under Trump’s vision have argued radical steps — which are largely happening without congressional approval and potentially setting up a constitutional clash over the limits of presidential authority — are necessary.