Is the CDC Being Gutted? Insiders Warn about Mass Firings & Project 2025 Threats

March 26, 2025 — Thermometer Episode Recap
By Dr. Jay Varma

In the latest episode of Thermometer, I sat down with Dr. Tom Farley—former Health Commissioner for both New York City and Philadelphia—to unpack disturbing developments inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As two longtime public health professionals who trained with the CDC, we’ve never been more alarmed about the future of this critical institution.

Watch the full episode here:
👉 Is the CDC Being Gutted?

🚨 What’s Happening at the CDC?

This isn’t just budget trimming—it’s a full-scale erosion of the CDC’s structure and mission. We break down the key concerns:

• Mass layoffs imminent: A reduction in force (RIF) plan—created without CDC leadership input—could eliminate up to 30% of CDC staff, including experts in global health, HIV prevention, and toxic substance surveillance.
• Leadership vacuum: A newly nominated CDC director reportedly lacks state or local public health experience—a worrying gap during a time of crisis.
• Strategic resignations: Multiple senior leaders are leaving earlier than planned, many in anticipation of political interference.
• COVID funding rollback: Critical infrastructure built for COVID and mpox response is being dismantled, weakening our readiness for future outbreaks.

🎯 Project 2025 and the Politicization of Public Health

At the heart of this unraveling is Project 2025, a conservative initiative to remake the federal government. As Dr. Farley explains, the project’s architects—including Russell Vought—are targeting entire CDC divisions, including:

• The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, which researches gun violence and opioid overdoses.
• The Office on Smoking and Health, a longtime thorn for the tobacco industry.

Worse still, a Senate bill proposes moving “non-communicable disease” programs—everything from obesity to HIV—out of CDC and into the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency that doesn’t manage public health programs.

🦠 Why It Matters

These changes don’t just affect bureaucracies—they affect lives.

• When the opioid overdose monitoring system disappears, so does our ability to prevent deaths.
• When the CDC’s HIV and STI programs vanish, so does prevention for millions.
• When vaccine stockpiles sit unused or go out of date due to staff cuts, we lose critical protection during future pandemics like H5N1 bird flu.

Public health is our national defense against disease. Weakening the CDC now—through politically motivated cuts, inexperienced leadership, and program dismantling—means America won’t be ready for the next pandemic, chronic disease crisis, or environmental health threat.

🗣️ What You Can Do

Dr. Farley and I both agree: public pressure works.

• Speak up: Contact elected officials—federal, state, and local.
• Share: Send this video to colleagues, journalists, and community leaders.
• Support: Let your local health departments know you value their work.
• Stay engaged: Public health doesn’t have a natural political constituency—we need to be one.

🎥 Watch the Full Discussion

📺 Is the CDC Being Gutted? Insiders Warn About Mass Firings & Project 2025 Threats
📰 Read more on Dr. Farley’s Substack
🌐 More from Dr. Farley: DrThomasFarley.com

Dr. Jay Varma is an epidemiologist and former senior health advisor to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. He is the host of Thermometer and founder of InfectiousDiseases.info, a site dedicated to evidence-based public health communication.