- President Donald Trump’s administration has left multiple congressionally funded CDC programs without staff through layoffs and forced leave, according to Associated Press reporting.
- The CDC’s Alzheimer’s program received $41 million in congressional funding this year; the agency’s $246 million Office on Smoking and Health, epilepsy program, sickle cell disease data collection, and rape prevention unit were also affected.
- President Donald Trump’s administration laid off CDC experts or placed them on leave — paid but not allowed to perform their jobs, AP found.
- New CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz, who took the role last week, inherits the unfilled programs alongside congressional pressure to restore some to operation.
New CDC director Schwartz faces program restoration pressure
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention retains formal authority for several disease-specific programs that Congress has funded, but President Donald Trump’s administration has laid off or placed on leave the experts who ran them, according to Associated Press reporting.
The Alzheimer’s program illustrates the gap between authorization and operation. Congress appropriated $41 million to the program this year — yet no one is staffing it, the AP found. The funding remains; the personnel do not.
A second major program faces the same disconnect. The Office on Smoking and Health received $246 million from Congress this year, but the Trump administration cut its staff as well, according to AP.
The pattern extends across additional divisions. The CDC’s epilepsy program, its sickle cell disease data collection operation, and its rape prevention unit were all affected, AP reported. The AP described the affected programs as “zombie programs” that “appear to be alive, at least according to legislation and congressional appropriations” — programs that exist on paper but lack the personnel to function.
The workforce situation drives the disconnect. CDC experts who performed the work were either laid off by the Trump administration or remain on leave — paid but not permitted to do their jobs, AP found. The combined effect has left multiple congressionally authorized programs without the personnel needed to carry out their work.
Dr. Erica Schwartz became the agency’s latest director last week, according to AP. She inherits the understaffed programs and the congressional pressure to bring some back to operational capacity. The Atlanta-based CDC is charged with protecting Americans from preventable health threats, a mission the current staffing levels constrain.