CDC’s Zombie Programs: Funded by Congress, But No One Left to Run Them

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still has an Alzheimer’s disease program. Congress appropriated $41 million to it this year. There’s just no one staffing it. The same holds true for the agency’s Office on Smoking and Health, which received $246 million in congressional funding, and its epilepsy program, sickle cell disease data collection operation, and rape prevention unit. According to AP News, these are the CDC’s “zombie programs” — they appear to be alive in legislation and congressional appropriations, but functionally they are dead or nearly dead because the experts who did the work were laid off by President Donald Trump’s administration or remain on leave, paid but not allowed to do their jobs.

A Hollowed-Out Agency

The Atlanta-based CDC is charged with protecting Americans from preventable health threats. When Dr. Erica Schwartz became the agency’s latest director last week, she inherited these zombie programs and congressional pressure to bring some of them back to life. Schwartz, confirmed by the Senate in a 51-44 vote on August 5, is the agency’s first confirmed director in nearly a year and the first Black woman to lead the CDC, as The Guardian reported.

The agency has lost more than 3,000 employees — over one-quarter of its workforce — largely due to layoffs and resignations since Trump returned to office. In April 2025, the administration sent reduction-in-force notices to thousands of employees across federal health agencies. Led by then-adviser Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, the cuts affected researchers, scientists, doctors, support staffers, and senior leaders.

Some cuts were reversed through litigation. Drastic cuts to the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health were rescinded, and some staffers at labs testing for sexually transmitted diseases and supporting lead poisoning control were reinstated. But many staffers who initially were laid off have been placed on administrative leave while litigation moves through the legal system — paid but not allowed to do their jobs.

The Funded-But-Decimated Programs

In January, Congress passed an appropriations bill that specified funding for more than 200 projects and activities. The law requires the Department of Health and Human Services to maintain staff to carry out statutorily required program work, though it does not specify how many staffers each program needs.

Since then, current and former CDC employees have compiled a list of dozens of funded-but-decimated programs. According to MedPage Today, these include:

• The Office on Smoking and Health, which tracked smoking trends, supported quit lines, and operated the “Tips from Former Smokers” ad campaign that researchers associate with billions of dollars in saved healthcare costs
• A $41 million Alzheimer’s initiative for surveillance, risk prevention, and communications campaigns, including a planned webpage on the potential link between menopause and Alzheimer’s disease
• An $18 million program to support overdose prevention in tribal communities
• An $11 million program focused on tracking epilepsy and community programs that help people manage the condition
• A $6 million sickle cell disease data collection program
• The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, the most comprehensive collection of data on health behaviors and outcomes before, during, and after childbirth
• A $2 million program focused on preventing drownings

Notably, the cuts affected a number of programs focused on chronic disease prevention. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said tackling chronic disease is his central priority and has faulted the CDC for not doing enough.

Democrats Say It’s Illegal

Democratic lawmakers argue that the CDC’s zombie programs represent a violation of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, passed after President Richard Nixon refused to spend appropriated funds. But there is no appropriations police or law enforcement agency that Congress can use to enforce the law, and with Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, there has been limited appetite for Congress to challenge the Trump administration.

“President Trump is showing time and again that he will put politics ahead of Americans’ health — and sadly, my Republican colleagues continue to look the other way,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) in a statement.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who represents the state where the CDC is based, suggested legislators are watching whether Schwartz will administer the programs Congress funded. “We will learn swiftly whether she intends to follow the law,” he said.

At Schwartz’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) pressed her to restart the smoking office’s dormant activities. “This is an office that is in statute, and it’s an office that receives congressional appropriations,” Kaine said. “Will you follow the law if we appropriate money for this mission and the CDC?”

“I will always follow the law,” Schwartz replied.

Hiring Plans Have Not Revived the Programs

Kennedy visited the CDC earlier this month, telling employees at a forum: “My sole purpose is to allow you to do your jobs.” He did not address the funded programs that have no staff.

In April, Kennedy said in a congressional hearing that he planned to hire 12,000 people — mainly to address chronic health conditions. But it’s unclear how many have been hired at the CDC since then, and union officials suggest very little progress has been made.

“Not only have we not had any really significant hiring of CDC employees, but we’ve also had ignoring and stalling when it comes to those employees that had been laid off, who were supposed to have priority for some of those jobs,” said Yolanda Jacobs, president of AFGE Local 2883, which represents CDC workers.

The impact extends beyond the agency itself. As Medical Daily noted, the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act received $41.5 million in the fiscal 2026 spending package, funding 43 state, local, territorial, and tribal recipients under a five-year cycle running through 2028. But the federal experts who evaluated which funded approaches worked, provided technical assistance, and set a national framework are gone.

“Without the experts, the coordination is not there across the country” in tackling public health problems, said Erika Sward, chief advocacy officer for UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. “You’re often flying blind, and without a parachute, when you don’t have the CDC staff in place.”

What’s Next

The future of these zombie programs will depend on whether Schwartz can bring back specialists and restore the teams without which congressionally approved funding cannot be turned into real services. The Michigan State University State of the CDC Workforce Study is tracking the ongoing changes at the agency, focusing on how the workforce reductions have affected operations and personnel.

Schwartz started at the CDC last week. When asked about her plans regarding the programs, an HHS spokesperson said: “Dr. Schwartz is determined to support and empower employees to ensure they have what they need to succeed.”

Whether that translates into concrete action to revive the zombie programs remains to be seen. As Sen. Ossoff put it, “We will learn swiftly whether she intends to follow the law.” The next appropriations cycle and Schwartz’s early decisions will reveal whether the current arrangement is a transition or a quiet ending for some of the nation’s most important public health initiatives.