Americans have always disagreed about many issues in Washington. Whether it’s taxes, immigration, or healthcare. But one issue everyone could agree on was this: If a deadly contagious disease emerged. Someone needed to identify where it was. How it was spreading and what we could do about it. That someone was typically the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Under the Trump administration, the CDC has changed drastically. The administration has described these changes as reducing red tape. They say this returns the CDC to its “core mission” and increases trust. Others believe the CDC is losing its workforce. And the trust and science behind the CDC is being compromised. At a time when we are seeing increased vaccine hesitancy and preventable diseases.
Here are some statistics that can help you understand this conversation.
When the administration announced its changes to HHS. they said they would reduce the number of employees from around 82,000 to 62,000. This would include cutting around 2,400 CDC employees. They would lose fewer because about 1,000 employees would come from another department. The administration believes this will let the CDC focus on preventing and responding to epidemics and outbreaks.
So it’s not all bad right? Removing red tape isn’t the same as hurting public health.
It’s what we may be removing along with that red tape.
According to the 2026 CDC plan, if there is a shutdown. Only 4,111 CDC/ATSDR employees would be left. This is 34% of the employees. This would halt things such as analyzing surveillance data for reportable diseases. Public health applied research. Informing the general public and experts on programs to help with HIV and drug overdoses.
All of these are important to our public health. Without knowing what diseases are going on, we can’t fight them. Epidemiologists help find out who is getting sick and why. Informing the public helps doctors, hospitals, and citizens.
Vaccines.
After a presidential order to evaluate the U.S. against other developed countries. The CDC changed its childhood vaccination schedule in January 2026. They believe this will increase transparency and keep vaccines available. The new changes allowed them to remove some vaccines from routine recommendations for children. They still recommend vaccinating children against 11 diseases.
Others believe that we are starting to blur the lines between what the President can decide and what scientists can decide.
Senator Bernie Sanders leaked emails between HHS and the CDC. His office claimed that they showed the Secretary of Health changing vaccine recommendations without the CDC. Changing the topic of CDC vaccines and canceling flu shot campaigns. This is coming from a politician’s office. It can help us see what is going on with our CDC.
This has started affecting the CDC more recently. The New York Times reported in September that the CDC has put its vaccine recommendations on hold. While insurance companies and other medical facilities are providing recommendations. There are lawsuits against the administration.
Measles.
As of September 24th 2026, there have been 3,659 cases of measles. The CDC has stated there have been 2 deaths from measles. However, there have been 4 deaths in Pennsylvania that have not been accounted for by the CDC. Some say this could hurt the public’s trust in the CDC.
Weeks ago, Reuters reported that Robert Kennedy wanted the CDC director to take away 2 deaths from PA. Those were listed as measles deaths. After he questioned if measles was the cause of death. The CDC said it needed more information to determine whether measles was the cause or a contributing factor. Some public health workers believe this is too political.
Which brings me to my point.
Trust.
Our CDC is run by more than just science. It’s also run by trust. If we start to question whether our statistics can change based on who is in the White House, our trust will keep dropping. Which was already low.
This is after recent changes to our childhood vaccination schedule. Only 47% of Americans trust the CDC to give them true vaccine information. This is the lowest it has been since the start of the pandemic. Depending on your political beliefs, you may trust or distrust the CDC more.
We can see how low trust in the CDC is through vaccination rates. Only 16.1% of adults have gotten the COVID vaccine for the 2025-26 season. Only 43.9% have gotten a flu shot. Of those who believe the flu vaccine is safe. Only 62% have gotten a flu shot, and of those who don’t believe it’s safe, 20.5% have gotten one. The same is true for COVID. With 31.1% and 3%.
Trust leads to people taking action. Or not taking action. Which can lead to disease spread, hospitalizations, and deaths.
I think it’s healthy to question what our CDC should be like. As I mentioned before, an organization can become bogged down in too much red tape. Some of these programs may not be needed. Or can be grouped together. We should always look at scientific data and question why we do what we do. The administration thinks they are helping HHS by cutting red tape.
However, there is a fine line between questioning and taking away our science.
I don’t think we should ever be afraid to question the CDC. But I do think we need to trust our science.
We need to know that when a death is counted as a measles death. It’s for scientific reasons, not politics. Doctors need to trust that our vaccine recommendations are science-based. Our state health departments need to know that we have that science to fall back on when a new disease crops up. Pharma companies and others that rely on our CDC data should know that it’s accurate.
If we lose our CDC, we may not know when diseases are spreading until it’s too late.
I think it’s okay to cut our CDC budget and make it more efficient. We should question some of our public health practices.
Just make sure that when the next disease comes. We can catch it and tell the truth to our people.
Before it’s too late.
