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Story summary
- U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reshaped the CDC into a skeletal agency.
- U.S. President Donald Trump’s early-2025 administration cut 18 percent of CDC staff.
- By May 2026 CDC staffing was 30 percent lower than before the layoffs.
- Interviews with over 30 employees say Kennedy and associates now tightly control the agency.
- Staff reductions have hampered CDC responses to measles outbreaks and Ebola cases abroad.