More than a year after significant workforce reductions disrupted public health initiatives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is hiring at a slower rate compared to other federal health agencies, according to a union representing its employees. The analysis by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Local 2883 indicates that for every six staff members laid off or placed on administrative leave following cuts by the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the CDC has hired approximately one new employee.
The Department of Health and Human Services has been authorized to make hundreds of new hires, but the union's review of hiring data from Jan. 2 to Sept. 10, 2026, revealed that the CDC posted 147 job announcements. From January to July 2026, the agency welcomed 95 new hires, representing just 16.5% of the total staff lost due to DOGE reductions. In contrast, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has hired 34% of its lost staff, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 39%, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 131.7%.
According to the union's analysis, dozens of "zombie" programs, which are fully funded by Congress but understaffed, are operating with limited capacity or have been placed on hold. These programs address critical areas such as chronic diseases, injury prevention, oral health, reproductive care, traumatic brain injury, and rape prevention. The lack of personnel means that vital work remains undone, even as funding is allocated.
For instance, the Office of Smoking and Health, with a budget of $246 million, has all its programs on hold or is relying on contractors. Full-time employees in this office are on paid administrative leave and are reportedly not permitted to work. Other programs facing severe staff shortages include a $6 million sickle cell data collection initiative, an $11 million epilepsy management program, and a $41 million Alzheimer's surveillance and risk prevention program.
The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), part of the $113.5 million Safe Motherhood/Infant Health initiative, which previously provided comprehensive maternal health data, has also been impacted.
In many instances, subject matter experts, including doctors and scientists, are on administrative leave while lawsuits challenge the workforce cuts. The Department of Health and Human Services stated that the CDC "continues to deliver on its critical public health responsibilities, while strategically hiring and aligning its workforce with the agency’s priorities." However, public health experts express concern.
"The programs are running kind of as catch-as-catch-can," said Dr. Georges Benjamin, CEO of the American Public Health Association. He noted that limited work is being done by dedicated staff, but critical data collection and analysis may be compromised, potentially affecting long-term public health insights.
Impact on Sickle Cell Programs
The Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia relies on data from the CDC's sickle cell data collection program, a $6 million initiative, to identify and reach patients in underserved communities. Dr. Anthony Onyegbula, who travels approximately 100 miles from Atlanta to Columbus, Georgia, to treat patients, highlighted the critical need for this data.
"If we don't [treat them], then nobody will, and these people just go without healthcare," Dr. Onyegbula stated. He described seeing 39 patients in a single day, including Marcus McGhee, who has experienced vision loss due to sickle cell complications.
McGhee, 34, expressed the anxiety of waiting between medical appointments. "It’s like a ‘to be continued,’" he said. "During this whole month, my mind is just racing… What am I gonna have to go through this time?"
Dr. Tabatha McGee, CEO of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia, emphasized that the lack of data from the CDC program is critical. "We will lose more warriors if we don't know where they are,” she warned. “We can't get them the care that they need. We will lose them.”
Health Experts Raise Alarms
The American Society of Hematology, in a September letter to CDC Director Erica Schwartz, expressed concerns about "a number of immediate challenges" and "early signs that the national data infrastructure built through years of federal investment is beginning to erode." The letter cited difficulties for grantees in planning, potential loss of key staff, pauses in data collection, and disruptions to patient care.
Dr. Karen Remley, former CDC Director for the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, called the understaffing of essential programs "morally wrong." "It is wrong to know that we have ways to help people with disease and to intentionally not take care of them. That is wrong," she stated.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services affirmed that improving care for sickle cell disease is a priority across HHS agencies, including expanded access to treatment, new FDA approvals, strengthened care coordination, and ongoing research and surveillance by the CDC. While the FDA has approved new gene therapies and awarded grants to expand access to care, health experts maintain that the current staffing situation at the CDC is hindering vital public health efforts.
