Dive Brief:

All 954 HHS workers laid off during the government shutdown in October have been rehired, according to legal testimony from a HHS official last week .

Pay for all workers was retroactively restored as of Nov. 21, according to Thomas Nagy Jr., HHS deputy assistant secretary for human resources.

The firings were unusual for a government shutdown and largely viewed as a political tactic to pressure congressional Democrats into making a deal with the White House.

Dive Insight:

Boomerang firing and rehirings are becoming a trend at HHS.

In April, HHS laid off approximately 10,000 workers under the direction of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Department of Government Efficiency. In a matter of weeks, Kennedy called back hundreds of those workers , having

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