CDC has lost close to 30% of its workforce in a year, with entire teams effectively shut down, New York Times reports
Staff describe the agency as 'zombified,' struggling to carry out its scientific mission after heavy turnover in its top leadership.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the federal agency that tracks disease outbreaks and sets public-health guidance, has lost close to 30% of its workforce over the past year, The New York Times reported Saturday, Sept. 26. Entire teams have been effectively shut down, not just thinned, and top leadership has turned over heavily. Still open. The Times does not name which teams closed or which posts sit empty.
Which CDC teams the 2025 layoffs emptied or halted:
- April 2025 layoffs: the Division of Violence Prevention, which studies gun deaths and injuries, lost about three-quarters of its staff, per its retired director, James Mercy; the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention lost about a third
- Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, the main federal survey on maternal health: suspended
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): HHS moved to cut about 90% of staff, then revoked the remaining layoff notices in January 2026