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The CDC Lost a Third of Its Staff. The Administration Proposed Cutting It by 53%. Disease Surveillance Failed.

Resist Now Updated July 11, 2026 3 min read
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A Quarter to a Third

The CDC 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 responsible for tracking, preventing, and responding to disease outbreaks operated with a fraction of its capacity during the worst measles outbreak in 30 years.

The administration’s FY2026 budget proposed cutting the CDC by 53%, a net reduction of $3.8 billion. That would have eliminated approximately 42,000 jobs nationwide.

53% budget cut proposed. 61 CDC programs targeted for elimination. Disease surveillance suspended. During a 30-year measles high.

What Was Targeted for Elimination

Over 61 CDC programs were targeted in the proposed budget. These were not obscure research projects. They included 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, faced 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.

Update, July 11, 2026: A U.S. citizen working for a humanitarian organization in Congo tested positive for Ebola, the CDC confirmed on July 11. The CDC said it is coordinating with the person’s employer and U.S. agencies to identify close contacts and limit further spread.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,830 confirmed cases and 648 deaths as of this week, calling it the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak ever recorded on the continent. The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or treatment, and confirmed cases have reached neighboring Uganda.

The Trump administration had planned to transfer Americans exposed to Ebola abroad to a new facility in Kenya, but a Kenyan court order suspended that project. Congo declared the current outbreak on May 15, after the WHO determined the virus had been transmitting for weeks before official detection.

Sources

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