The Advocate – As the federal government shutdown enters its 12th day on Sunday, the Trump administration has implemented a comprehensive purge of the federal public health workforce, laying off thousands of employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The cuts have dismantled critical programs in family planning, LGBTQ+ and adolescent health, and infectious disease surveillance, leaving experts warning that the United States is entering the viral respiratory infection season flying blind.
The Office of Management and Budget confirmed “substantial” reductions in force across multiple agencies.
OMB Director Russ Vought, who announced “The RIFs have begun” on X, formerly Twitter, said the cuts represent a shift from traditional furloughs to permanent terminations. In his post, Vought made clear the purge is broad: “These are RIFs, not furloughs.”
Reuters reports that between 1,100 and 1,200 HHS employees have already been fired, with more layoffs expected next week.
At the CDC, entire divisions, including those overseeing epidemiology, global health, and the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the agency’s flagship public-health bulletin, were dissolved. One senior scientist told Time that the CDC “is not functional.”
Within HHS, the fallout has been particularly severe. A former senior Biden administration official told The Advocate that the Office of Population Affairs, which administered the nation’s Title X family-planning network, teen-pregnancy prevention, and LGBTQ+ health initiatives, was eliminated entirely.
“This wasn’t a budget decision — it was ideological,” the former official said. “These are the programs that centered reproductive and queer health, and now they’re gone.”
Adrian Shanker, who served as deputy assistant secretary for health policy and senior adviser on LGBTQ+ health equity under the Biden administration, told The Advocate the cuts “are devastating” for both federal employees and the American public …
