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Foodborne Illness Rapid Response Act
To prohibit reductions in force or other staffing reductions for certain Centers of Disease Control and Prevention divisions, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services from carrying out staffing reductions at CDC divisions responsible for foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak response.
- Applies the prohibition for one year following a multi-state or nationally significant foodborne illness outbreak.
- Defines a covered staffing reduction as the removal of 1 percent or more of total employees at each affected division within a 60-day period.
- Covers all types of staffing reduction efforts, including reductions in force and agency reorganizations.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Josh Gottheimer’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- BLACKSTONE $116,700
- APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $71,500
- KKR & CO INC. $50,600
- CENTERVIEW PARTNERS $25,000
- FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP $23,200
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Josh Gottheimer → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Jul 30, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. · house
- Jul 30, 2026 Introduced in House
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 30, 2026
Mr. Gottheimer (for himself and Mr. Bacon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To prohibit reductions in force or other staffing reductions for certain Centers of Disease Control and Prevention divisions, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Foodborne Illness Rapid Response Act”.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON REDUCTIONS IN FORCE OR OTHER STAFFING REDUCTIONS FOR CERTAIN CENTERS OF DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION DIVISIONS.
Section 205 of the Food Safety Modernization Act (21 U.S.C. 2224) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(d) Prohibition on Reductions in Force or Other Staffing Reductions.—
“(1) In general.—The Secretary may not, during the 1-year period following a multi-state or nationally significant foodborne illness outbreak, carry out a covered staffing reduction effort with respect to the divisions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention responsible for surveillance of foodborne diseases and foodborne illness outbreak response.
“(2) Covered staffing reduction effort.—In this subsection, the term ‘staffing reduction effort’ means any agency action (including a reduction in force conducted pursuant to subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 5, United States Code, or any agency reorganization) that provides for the removal of 1 percent or more of the total number of employees at each of the divisions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention responsible for surveillance of foodborne diseases and foodborne illness outbreak response within a 60-day period.”. <all>
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