1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

The Trump administration's decision to order a 35% cut in spending on contracts across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), compounding the nearly 25% staff reduction, poses a grave threat to public health. These arbitrary cuts will undermine critical functions like disease surveillance, medical research, and emergency response capabilities essential for safeguarding the well-being of all Americans. Gutting the budgets and workforce of agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is short-sighted and hazardous. It will diminish our nation's ability to monitor and contain disease outbreaks, develop life-saving treatments, and ensure the safety of food and drug supplies. These drastic measures will cripple public health infrastructure when we can least afford it. The public servants terminated en masse this week possess invaluable expertise accumulated over years of dedicated service. Firing them indiscriminately, leaving key departments severely understaffed or dismantled entirely, is an egregious dereliction of duty that threatens to erode hard-won public health gains. We cannot afford to dismantle the very systems designed to protect our communities from preventable illnesses and health crises. I urge you to take immediate action to reverse these reckless cuts and prioritize safeguarding public health. Robust investment in our federal health agencies is vital for a healthy, resilient nation. The costs of inaction and neglect will be paid in preventable suffering and lives lost. Defending public health must be a national imperative.