More than 460 employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are being rehired after sweeping layoffs, but hundreds of public health programs remain shuttered as the Trump administration restructures federal health agencies.
Mike Stobbe reports for The Associated Press.
In short:
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reinstated over 460 former CDC staffers after laying off about 2,400 workers in April, a decision that drew legal challenges and public protests.
- Reinstated staff include those from the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention, as well as the National Center for Environmental Health, where work on lead poisoning had halted.
- Despite the rehires, many key programs remain defunded, including those focused on asthma, workplace safety, air quality, gun violence, and international disease prevention.
Key quote:
“Bringing a few hundred people back to work out of thousands fired is a start, but there are still countless programs at CDC that have been cut, which will lead to increased disease and death.”
— Abby Tighe, founding member of Fired But Fighting
Why this matters:
Public health systems rely on consistent staffing and funding to monitor disease, respond to outbreaks, and prevent environmental exposures. Layoffs at the CDC risk severing long-standing efforts to track lead poisoning, monitor air quality, study gun violence, and prevent the spread of communicable diseases like HIV and tuberculosis. Programs that were quietly foundational to U.S. public health—such as Freedom of Information Act transparency work and lab testing for sexually transmitted diseases — have been partially or entirely dismantled, with only a fraction being restored. This retrenchment comes at a time when emerging pathogens, climate-fueled health risks, and growing environmental exposures demand more, not less, public health infrastructure. Even as some staff return, the weakened system may leave gaps that worsen health inequities and undermine disease prevention.
Related: Public health system unravels as federal cuts leave communities exposed to disease threats
