Trump Cuts Health Jobs, Scales Back Public Programs

In the first 100 days of President Donald Trump's second term, the administration enacted sweeping changes to U.S. healthcare, including up to 20,000 job cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services and agency reorganizations that disrupted the CDC, FDA, and NIH. Critical public health programs, such as disease surveillance and the Office on Smoking and Health, were scaled back or eliminated, and federal research funding was halted. The 'Make America Healthy Again' agenda, led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., shifted focus to chronic illness and introduced policies like banning soda from SNAP and removing fluoride from drinking water. Medicaid access was temporarily disrupted, and international aid programs, including PEPFAR, faced severe cuts before partial reinstatement after protests. Public health initiatives, including vaccination campaigns and anti-smoking efforts, were deprioritized, raising concerns about U.S. preparedness for health threats. The administration also prioritized tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks, leaving the future of many health protections uncertain.