Dismantling the CDC
2025 January
2025-01-28 Trump ordered the CDC to completely cut communications off with the World Health Organization.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-communication-who-world-health-organization/
https://www.cdc.gov/global-health/resources/us-withdrawal-who.html
https://apnews.com/article/cdc-who-trump-548cf18b1c409c7d22e17311ccdfe1f6
2025 February
2025-02-27 DOGE cut funding to fight Ebola. During the deadly outbreak in May in the Congo, Musk claimed they restored the funding. Yet, the Trump administration also cut funding to the CDC, barred the CDC from contacting the World Health Organization, and cases in the Congo surpassed 3000. Experts warned this strain of Ebola carried more momentum than the 2014 outbreak that claimed over 11,000 lives.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jul/07/elon-musk-doge-cuts-usaid-ebola
https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/02/27/g-s1-50929/elon-musk-ebola-usaid
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-communication-who-world-health-organization/
https://www.cdc.gov/global-health/resources/us-withdrawal-who.html
PAY WALL https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/26/elon-musk-ebola-prevention-usaid-doge/
2025 June
2025-06-09 RFK fired all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine panel and backfilled the advisory committee with ant-vaxxers.
https://abcnews.com/Health/rfk-jr-removing-17-members-cdcs-vaccine-advisory/story?id=122670046
https://www.statnews.com/2025/06/09/rfk-jr-fires-every-member-of-cdc-vaccine-expert-panel-acip/
https://www.axios.com/2025/06/09/rfk-scraps-vaccine-advisory-committee
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/16/nx-s1-5749530/judge-blocks-rfk-jr-vaccine-changes
2025 August
2025-08-20 The Trump administration fired at least 600 CDC employees.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx29rdpg45xo
2025-08-27 RFK fired Susan Monarez from the CDC after she refused to “rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives”. RFK appointed biotechnology investor Jim O’Neill to head the CDC. According to AI overview, O’Neill is a long-time advocate of deregulation and support for unproven therapies.
https://www.environmentalprotectionnetwork.org/20250828_cdc-firing_release/
https://x.com/HHSGov/status/1960818490614415869
2025-08-28 In response to the firing of Susan Monarez, several employees from the CDC participated in a mass walkout.
2025 September
2025-09-01 Nine former CDC directors accused RFK of jeopardizing health by severely weakening programs.
https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/opinion-rfk-jr-s-decisions-unacceptable-say-former-cdc-directors/
2025-09-17 Former CDC director Susan Monarez testified at a Senate hearing and reported pressure from RFK over vaccine mandates.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/public-health/fired-cdc-director-describes-pressure-kennedy-over-vaccines
2026 April
2026-04-10 Acting CDC director Jay Bhattacharya blocked COVID vaccination reports showing their benefits. Jay Bhattacharya was one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration in 2020 which argued against COVID lockdowns even before vaccines were developed.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/10/cdc-chief-covid-vaccine
https://www.wsav.com/news/cdc-delays-covid-vaccine-benefits-report/
PAY OR SUB WALL https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/04/09/covid-vaccine-report-delayed/
Great Barrington Declaration links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrington_Declaration
https://www.hoover.org/research/man-who-talked-back-jay-bhattacharya-fight-against-covid-lockdowns
2026 July
2026-07-17 We were reminded that the slow progression to find the source of cyclosporiasis was largely due to Trump’s cuts to the CDC budget and staff.
https://www.wired.com/story/cdc-cyclospora-lab-doge-downsized-it-last-year/
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/20/health/trump-cyclosporiasis-outbreak-cdc-response-invs
https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/07-26/index.html
2026 August
2026-08-06 Dr. Erica Schwarz was confirmed to lead the Centers for Disease Control Prevention. The agency has been without a director for more than a year after Trump fired Susan Monarez for not carrying out his MAGA agendas.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/new-cdc-director-confirmed-erica-shwartz-rcna590994
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/05/nx-s1-5920379/cdc-director-confirmed-erica-schwartz