The sweeping cuts to domestic and global health programs by the U.S. Trump administration are dismantling the systems and structures that keep Americans and the world safe from infectious disease threats. 

As H5N1 continues to spread across the United States — posing an ongoing risk that a dangerous mutation could increase the chances of human-to-human transmission — viruses like mpox, Marburg, and Ebola continue to emerge abroad.

The dramatic funding and personnel cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and USAID — including for landmark global health and emergency response capacities like PEPFAR and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) — in the guise of efficiency and cost savings are anything but. They are eliminating the people, systems, and partnerships that form our frontline defense against infectious disease threats, rendering us more vulnerable to deadly disease outbreaks and elevating the cost of emergency response.

Dismantling critical architecture without careful thought and a deliberate strategy to protect vital expertise and capacities is not only short sighted, it is exceedingly dangerous. 

Congress must urgently assert its oversight role to protect the people, programs, and investments critical to keeping America and the world safe from infectious disease threats. If the U.S. administration is serious about upholding American health and economic security, it must swiftly and publicly present a comprehensive strategy that addresses the increasing risks of infectious diseases — domestically and globally — and supports the core capacities needed to keep Americans safe.