The CDC had 30% fewer employees in May 2026 than before layoffs began in early 2025, personnel data cited by The New York Times show. Current and former staff say cuts have impaired outbreak response and vaccine guidance as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pursues his MAHA agenda.
Initial layoffs cut about 18% of the CDC workforce. More than 1,200 employees retired from March 2025 through May 2026, nearly four times the number in the comparable period two years earlier. The chronic-disease and birth-defects centers were reduced to roughly half their previous staffing. HHS says the CDC continues to protect public health and that new leadership is reviewing the agency to advance the administration’s priorities alongside its core mission.
Separately, a March draft letter showed Kennedy backing former FDA Commissioner David Kessler’s petition to scrutinize refined carbohydrates in processed foods and seeking manufacturers’ safety data. The response has remained under White House review for months, and a federal definition of ultra-processed food has also faced delays; Kennedy’s draft set no deadline or consequence for missing data. HHS rejects suggestions that MAHA has stalled, saying it is working to make policies scientifically rigorous, legally durable and effective. The food industry says its products are safe and warns broad targeting could oversimplify nutrition science, confuse consumers and raise grocery costs.
