MILWAUKEE — Hundreds of laid-off federal employees, including members of the CDC's lead prevention team, are returning to work after being rehired by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The decision comes after Sen. Tammy Baldwin called on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to visit Milwaukee and see the lead crisis in public schools firsthand.
Baldwin has been critical of what she sees as Secretary Kennedy's lack of response to help Milwaukee with its lead crisis.
Watch: CDC to reinstate lead prevention team as Sen. Baldwin calls on Sec. Kennedy to address MPS lead crisis
The federal health agency now plans to rehire hundreds of laid-off employees, including those on the CDC's lead prevention team that assists local health departments. Secretary Kennedy stated he didn't intend to eliminate these workers.
On Monday, Sen Baldwin met with concerned parents at a local school to talk about lead paint concerns in Milwaukee Public Schools. At that time she called on Sec. Kennedy and his agency to provide more assistance to Milwaukee.
"Hopefully he will take action and hire the experts back and - they shouldn't have been fired in the first place, and offer a team to come to Milwaukee and help the Milwaukee Public Schools as well as the Milwaukee Heath Department do this job," Baldwin said.
The lead paint exposure has affected six Milwaukee Public Schools and displaced 1,800 children during remediation efforts. We are still waiting to see if Secretary Kennedy will visit Milwaukee and if a request for financial help and support will now be approved.
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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