Federal employees who worked for the CDC knew mass layoffs would be directed by the Trump Administration on April 1st, but none of them expected the cuts to be so extensive, or the impact on America to be so devastating. The cuts came in many forms: some employees were told in emails and others in person when they found their office badges were deactivated. Chaos and confusion followed as thousands of workers were laid off, with human resources teams being gutted and managers no longer aware of who worked for them.

The Trump Administration’s mass layoffs were part of a plan to reorganize the Department of Health and Human Services, also known as HHS. Formally, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr declared the goal was “about realigning HHS with its core mission: to stop the chronic disease epidemic and make America healthy again”.  Approximately 10,000 employees across all departments, such as the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), were cut this week in addition to an additional 10,000 who took early retirement. Overall, the cuts shrunk the workforce to 62,000 workers. In the CDC alone, 2,400 employees were laid off—18 percent of its overall workforce. These layoffs align with an overall goal of the Trump Administration to shrink the size of the federal government.

The cuts at the CDC mostly pertained to scientists working in particular divisions such as HIV, injury prevention, reproductive health, or climate change prevention. Many cuts involved programs that tried to reduce deaths and injuries from things other than infectious disease, such as asthma, gun violence, and climate change. Scientists researching blood disease and access to vaccines were also laid off, with HIV research in particular losing 27% of its staff.

According to the New York Times, public health experts have said that what remains is a “hobbled C.D.C., with a smaller global footprint, devoting fewer resources to environmental health, occupational health and disease prevention.” These cuts, during a time where measles outbreaks have hit Texas and the bird flu has impacted poultry and dairy farms, will damage public health programs and access to vaccines in rural areas. Other communities most likely to be impacted include low income individuals, Black and Latino people, and individuals living with disabilities because as Dr. Richard Besser noted, these groups “rely on public health to a larger extent than wealthy communities do.” 

The targeted divisions researched lifesaving treatment and innovative technologies, and with the mass layoffs, their progress will be held back. About 47,000 Americans are killed by firearms each year, and before being significantly destaffed, the Injury Center researched how to improve gun safety, particularly with promoting gun locks. The Division of Reproductive Health tried to prevent pregnant women and newborn deaths, as they die at a higher rate in the United States than any other industrialized country. Under the new layoffs, the branch of Women’s Health and Fertility and the field support branch were cut, leaving only the Maternal and Infant Health branch. Until now, the HIV prevention division relied on government funding to respond and prevent HIV outbreaks. Funding for HIV prevention is poised to be diminished, potentially by 700 million. Janeen Madan Keller, the deputy director of a health policy program at the Center for Global Development, noted that the “U.S. has played a major role in global health and helped save millions of lives around the world with its support for global immunization efforts and HIV/AIDs treatments.” With the job and funding cuts in crucial and groundbreaking divisions, many lives will be lost—not just in the United States, but all over the world. 

While the layoffs and diminished funding at the CDC may be more damaging in rural areas or developing countries, that doesn’t mean the impacts of these reforms, and other changes to public health programs won’t be felt in the Philadelphia region as well. The city of Philadelphia recently lost three crucial grants to its public health departments, which were estimated to be worth 30 to 50 million dollars. Public health employees worry that the loss of these grants and other budget cuts could lead to disease outbreaks in vulnerable communities. HHS also released plans to shutter five out of its ten regional offices, one of which happens to be in Philadelphia. Currently, the department has not elaborated on which offices will be shut down and which will remain open, but the threat still remains a cause for concern.

Although the long term effects of these changes remain to be seen, the short term effects of these gutted government programs will come to light in recent weeks as the United States grapples with the loss of lifesaving research and aid. In the words of Adrian Shanker, the former deputy assistant for health policy: “They are eliminating entire teams, offices, divisions—the impact of which is going to leave our nation less prepared to deal with a variety of health challenges.”