CDC's new director inherits funded-but-unstaffed programs as Congress presses her to act
The CDC currently operates dozens of programs that received congressional funding in 2025 but have little or no staff to carry out their work, after the Trump administration issued mass layoff notices to thousands of CDC employees in April 2025. New CDC Director Dr. Erica Schwartz, who started last week, was pressed at her Senate confirmation hearing to restart dormant activities, including the Office on Smoking and Health, which received $246 million in appropriations. Schwartz told senators she would "always follow the law."
Single source · Not corroborated
The CDC's Office on Smoking and Health received $246 million in congressional appropriations this year, but the staff who ran its quit lines, tracked tobacco trends, and managed the "Tips from Former Smokers" ad campaign were cut. Its Alzheimer's disease program received $41 million — and has no one staffing it. The same is true for programs covering epilepsy, sickle cell disease data collection, rape prevention, overdose prevention in tribal communities, and drowning prevention, according to the Associated Press, which described them as "zombie programs."
The staffing collapse stems from April 2025 layoff notices sent to thousands of CDC employees as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reorganize the Department of Health and Human Services into a new subagency called the Administration for a Healthy America. That reorganization has not taken place amid congressional pushback, according to AP, but the layoffs largely did. Lawsuits and congressional pressure reversed some cuts — including drastic reductions to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and labs testing for sexually transmitted diseases — but many others endured. As a result of litigation, some initially laid-off employees have been placed on paid administrative leave, unable to perform their duties.
Senator Tim Kaine pressed Schwartz at her confirmation hearing to restart the smoking office's activities, noting the office is established in statute and receives congressional appropriations. Senator Jon Ossoff, whose state is home to CDC headquarters, said in a statement that legislators would "learn swiftly whether she intends to follow the law." Senator Tammy Baldwin said the situation represented federal health policy being subordinated to politics, and she and other senators included new language in a spending bill requiring federal health agencies to maintain staffing levels sufficient to fulfill statutory responsibilities, though the bill did not specify staffing numbers per program.