{"id":10122,"date":"2026-08-18T18:34:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=10122"},"modified":"2026-08-18T18:34:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:34:39","slug":"cdcs-new-director-is-pressed-to-do-something-about-its-zombie-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=10122","title":{"rendered":"CDC\u2019s new director is pressed to do something about its zombie programs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still has an Alzheimer\u2019s disease program. Congress appropriated $41 million to it this year. There\u2019s just no one staffing it.\n <\/p>

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\n Then there\u2019s the agency\u2019s Office on Smoking and Health. Congress allocated $246 million for that. Its staffers were cut, too.\n <\/p>\n

\n Same for the epilepsy program. Its sickle cell disease data collection operation. Its rape prevention unit.\n <\/p>\n

\n Think of them as the CDC\u2019s zombie programs \u2014 they appear to be alive, at least according to legislation and congressional appropriations. But functionally they are dead or nearly dead, because the CDC experts who did the work were laid off by President Donald Trump\u2019s administration or remain on leave \u2014 paid but not allowed to do their jobs.\n <\/p>\n

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\nDr. Erica Schwartz<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
US Department of Health and Human Services<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\u2018We just need someone who\u2019s not crazy\u2019: How the White House decided on Erica Schwartz for CDC director<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

7 min read<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

\n The Atlanta-based CDC is charged with protecting Americans from preventable health threats. When Dr. Erica Schwartz became the agency\u2019s latest director last week, she inherited these zombie programs and congressional pressure to bring some of them back to life.\n <\/p>\n

\n In Schwartz\u2019s confirmation hearing, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine pressed her to restart the smoking office\u2019s dormant activities.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is an office that is in statute, and it\u2019s an office that receives congressional appropriations,\u201d said Kaine, a Virginia Democrat. \u201cWill you follow the law if we appropriate money for this mission and the CDC?\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI will always follow the law,\u201d Schwartz replied.\n <\/p>\n

\n Trump officials turned some CDC programs into the living dead\n<\/h2>\n

\n The decision to freeze the programs came from Schwartz\u2019s political bosses.\n <\/p>\n

\n In April 2025, Trump\u2019s Republican administration sent layoff notices to thousands of employees at the CDC and other federal health agencies. It was part of a sweeping effort to remake the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and consolidate some of its programs under a new subagency called the Administration for a Healthy America. That reorganization hasn\u2019t happened, amid congressional pushback.\n <\/p>\n

\n But the layoffs did. Led by then-adviser Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, the cuts affected researchers, scientists, doctors, support staffers and senior leaders, leaving the government without many of the key experts who long guided U.S. decisions on medical research, drug approvals and other issues.\n <\/p>\n

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\nLed by then-adviser Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, layoffs left the government without many of the key experts who long guided U.S. decisions on medical research, drug approvals and other issues.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n The cuts were challenged in lawsuits and through pleas to legislators.\n <\/p>\n

\n Some were reversed. Drastic cuts to the CDC\u2019s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, for example, were rescinded. Other reinstatements included staffers at labs that test for sexually transmitted diseases and support lead poisoning control.\n <\/p>\n

\n But many of the cuts endured. As a result of litigation, staffers who initially were laid off have been placed on administrative leave while the fight moves through the legal system, paid to not do their jobs.\n <\/p>\n

\n Not all public health efforts associated with every impacted program stopped. Most of the CDC\u2019s budget is passed on to state and local programs, and much of grant processing has continued.\n <\/p>\n

\n Staffers at the CDC and other federal health agencies \u201cdeserve a lot of credit for getting money out the door,\u201d said Eric Gascho, executive director of the Coalition for Health Funding.\n <\/p>\n

\n But gone are seasoned experts doing research into the health threats, assessing which grant-funded programs work and which don\u2019t and setting a national framework for best ways to save and prolong lives.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWithout the experts, the coordination is not there across the country\u201d in tackling public health problems, said Erika Sward, chief advocacy officer for UsAgainstAlzheimer\u2019s. \u201cYou\u2019re often flying blind, and without a parachute, when you don\u2019t have the CDC staff in place.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n A union is keeping track of the zombie programs\n<\/h2>\n

\n In January, Congress passed an appropriations bill, which became law, that specified funding for more than 200 projects and activities. The law requires that HHS maintain staff to carry out statutorily required program work, although it does not say how many staffers must be in each program to do it.\n <\/p>

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\nA sign marks the entrance to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, on August 27, 2025.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Brynn Anderson\/AP\/File<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\n\u2018The damage is beyond repair\u2019: The CDC is facing another round of deep staff cuts<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

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\n Since then, current and former CDC employees have compiled a list of dozens of funded-but-decimated CDC programs. They include:\n <\/p>\n

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