Former CDC officials warn proposed budget cuts could cost American lives in 2026
Proposed funding cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the fiscal year 2026 federal budget will lead to significant negative health impacts for millions of Americans, a coalition of former federal health officials said.
These proposed funding cuts are not related to the "big, beautiful bill" that is making its way through Congress.
The press conference was organized by CDC Alumni and Friends and Fired But Fighting, an informal network of public health advocates. The latter has created a website that lays out the proposed budget cuts to the CDC.
The former officials spoke out during a press conference on Wednesday noting that the proposed budget would slash CDC's budget by more than half (54%), taking it from $9.3 billion to $4.2 billion.
"Instead of investing in these lifesaving programs, the current budget leaves the American people to pay the price tag with both their lives and money," said Brian King, a former health official at the CDC and Food and Drug Administration, who worked on tobacco prevention.
State and local health departments would also be greatly impacted by the proposed cuts with over half of their budgets coming from federal dollars, the advocacy group notes. Roughly 80% of the CDC's annual domestic budget is provided to these smaller, local health departments.
About $4.7 billion was provided in 2023 alone in grants to support health departments, hospitals, universities and nonprofits across the country, the group said.
As a result of cuts to CDC funding for local health departments, "Americans will be sicker and more will be losing their lives unnecessarily," Dr. Tom Farley, a former health commissioner of Philadelphia and New York City, predicted.
One of the largest cuts would be to chronic disease prevention, the former officials noted, including tobacco prevention, HIV prevention and injury prevention, which includes drownings -- a leading cause of death in young kids.
"Successful [HIV prevention] programs that Americans have depended on for decades to help protect their own health and the health of their families and their local communities now risk being irreversibly damaged," said Dr. John Brooks, a former CDC official in charge of the agency's response to COVID, mpox and HIV.
