A Quarter to a Third
The CDC has effectively lost a quarter to a third of its staff in 2025. Nearly 1,300 employees were cut in early waves, with more following. The agency that is responsible for tracking, preventing, and responding to disease outbreaks in the United States is operating with a fraction of its capacity during the worst measles outbreak in 30 years.
The proposed FY2026 budget would cut the CDC by 53%, a net reduction of $3.8 billion. If adopted, approximately 42,000 jobs would be lost nationwide in 2026.
53% budget cut proposed. 61 CDC programs eliminated. Disease surveillance suspended. During a 30-year measles high.
What Gets Eliminated
Over 61 CDC programs would be eliminated under the proposed budget. These are not obscure research projects. They include cancer prevention programs, diabetes and heart disease prevention, stroke prevention, obesity prevention, global and domestic HIV/AIDS prevention, global immunization programs, and opioid and substance use prevention and recovery programs.
An additional 40 programs at SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, face elimination. Over 100 public health programs total.
Surveillance Is Stopping
Analysis of surveillance data for reportable diseases has been suspended or delayed. Critical year-end surveillance reports face delays. The system that detects outbreaks before they become epidemics is being degraded at the same time the Health Secretary is removing vaccines from the recommended schedule and promoting debunked health claims.
Public health experts warned that if cuts proceed, the U.S. faces “weakened disease surveillance, reduced vaccination efforts, and staffing shortages that will impact everything from emergency preparedness to chronic disease prevention.”
The George Washington University Milken Institute found that the cuts would harm not only public health but state and local economies that depend on CDC-funded programs for jobs, services, and healthcare infrastructure.
The Connection
The CDC is one piece of a dismantled public health system. The FDA lost 3,500 employees. 383 NIH clinical trials were halted. The 988 LGBTQ youth crisis line was defunded. The VA lost 40,000 workers.
Each agency cut independently. Each justified on its own terms. The cumulative effect is that the public health infrastructure of the United States, the system built over decades to prevent disease, approve treatments, track outbreaks, and respond to emergencies, is being reduced simultaneously across every agency.
Japan showed what happens when a country stops vaccinating. The UK lost measles elimination after a fraudulent study eroded confidence. The U.S. is doing both at once while also cutting the agency that would detect and respond to the consequences.
Read more on the Healthcare hub and the FDA cuts brief.