Union: CDC Lost a Third of Its Workforce In One Year
A new report by the American Federation of Government Workers has documented a staggering level of staff attrition at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the first year of the Trump 2.0 administration. The nation’s premier public health agency lost a third of its workforce from March 2025 through April 2026, the union […]
A new report by the American Federation of Government Workers reveals that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lost a third of its workforce in just one year under the Trump 2.0 administration. The union reports that the nation's premier public health agency saw 3,000 fewer employees in April 2026 compared to March 2025.
This drastic reduction includes the complete elimination of two CDC units - the Office of Health Equity and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity - in 2025. Additionally, 98 percent of the CDC's human resources personnel have departed their jobs. Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency was largely responsible for these layoffs, followed by widespread voluntary resignations and retirements.
The agency now under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and newly confirmed CDC Director Erica Schwartz has been described as "zombified" by Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned in summer 2025. Despite being tasked with advising on vaccine use, the CDC has yet to recommend the new flu vaccine approved by the FDA in August.
This year, the vaccine advisers have not held a single meeting, unlike the detailed recommendations published by the CDC in 2024. Dr. Demetre Daskalakis and AFGE Local 2883 President Yolanda Jacobs have criticized the "dismantling of public health infrastructure" and urged for a more prepared agency to protect the public's health.
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