Is the US prepared to deal with another pandemic or widespread health crisis?
The evidence suggests the U.S. is less prepared today than it was even a few years ago, according to nearly every independent assessment published in 2025–2026 — though there are some counter-currents of investment in specific areas like biosurveillance technology.
Warning Signs Pointing to Reduced Preparedness
Federal leadership and funding have been significantly weakened. The White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, created in 2023 specifically to coordinate the federal response to future pandemics, has been effectively hollowed out — in 2025, Gerald Parker resigned as head of the office, leaving the office with no employees.
Budget cuts to core public health infrastructure have been dramatic. The President's proposed FY 2026 budget for the CDC amounts to a 53 percent reduction in funding as compared to FY 2024. Within that, CDC's Public Health Emergency Preparedness program – the primary source of federal funding for state and local emergency preparedness – faces a 52 percent funding reduction. Because about 80 percent of the CDC's domestic budget flows to states, localities, tribes and tribal organizations, healthcare systems, and community partners, and federal funding accounts for about half of state and local health department budgets, cuts to federal spending are cuts to local public health budgets.
Concrete programs have already been cut or eliminated, not just proposed for the future: the March 2025 termination of more than $12 billion in COVID-19-era grants — funding that had been broadened to support infectious disease monitoring, laboratory capacity, emergency preparedness, and mental health services, plus the cancellation of nearly $500 million in contracts funding mRNA vaccine research and development in August 2025, described as a potential disruption to countermeasure development needed for the next public health emergency. Looking ahead, the proposed FY 2027 budget would eliminate the Hospital Preparedness Program entirely and cut the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Cooperative Agreement by approximately 52 percent.
Global early-warning capacity has also been curtailed. The U.S. formally completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization in January 2026, reducing access to global data sources that support outbreak tracking and response, and the dissolution of USAID and reductions to CDC's global health programs have further curtailed global outbreak detection capacity.
State-level readiness is uneven. Trust for America's Health's flagship 2026 report finds that this is happening at a genuinely risky moment: in 2025, the country faced the most severe flu season in nearly a decade, rising measles outbreaks, continued H5N1 avian influenza activity, and a growing number of extreme weather events—all while the federal systems built over decades to help states prepare for and respond to emergencies came under significant strain. The report notes access to paid sick leave varies widely across U.S. regions—from 98 percent of workers in Pacific states to 67 percent in East South Central states—and gaps are most concentrated among low-wage, part-time, and service-sector workers, and separately evaluates readiness through 10 indicators, placing states into three performance tiers: 20 in the high-performance tier, 17 states and D.C. in the middle tier. A related analysis of that report concludes this convergence of active threats and federal instability represents a defining stress test for the nation's preparedness architecture — and that many states are not well positioned to absorb the shock.
Areas of Continued Investment
It's not all retrenchment. CDC's own FY2026 budget documents point to targeted increases: CDC's FY 2026 budget request of $963,291,000 for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases is $44,000,000 above the FY 2025 enacted level — an increase intended to keep the nation prepared for the next public health threat and enhance investment in a proposed Biothreat Radar Detection System. The administration's global health strategy also claims forward-looking intent: in 2025, it released the "America First Global Health Strategy," which included the stated goals of enabling early detection and containment of outbreaks, though outside analysts were skeptical, with the nonpartisan Center for Global Development noting that the plan signaled "continued U.S. commitment to global health" but calling broader cuts to U.S. global health programming "devastating news."
Expert Consensus
Public health leaders gathered at a major 2026 scientific meeting captured the ambivalence well: the discussions produced findings that were both encouraging and cautionary. A recurring theme was that trust and coordination — not just science — remain the weak link: the COVID-19 pandemic made clear that public health guidance is only effective if people trust it, and mistrust, misinformation and confusion around evolving recommendations slowed response efforts, so experts emphasized that rebuilding trust must happen before the next crisis, not during it.
Bottom line: Most independent public-health experts and watchdog organizations currently assess the U.S. as worse-positioned to handle a new pandemic than it was in the years immediately following COVID-19, primarily due to deep proposed and enacted cuts to CDC and state/local public health funding, the effective dismantling of the White House pandemic office, withdrawal from the WHO, and clawbacks of COVID-era preparedness grants — even as a handful of targeted biosurveillance and vaccine-technology investments continue.
Citations (19)
- White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy
Source excerpt: “[[6]](./White_House_Office_of_Pandemic_Preparedness_and_Response_Policy#cite_note-6) In 2025, Gerald Parker resigned as head of the office, leaving th...”
evidence, reference entry, points to no. Claim: Gerald Parker resigned in 2025 as head of the White House pandemic office, leaving it with no employees.
- Public Health Infrastructure in Crisis: HHS Workforce Cuts, Reorganizations, and Funding Reductions: Impacts and Solutions - TFAH
Source excerpt: “The President’s proposed FY 2026 budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) amounts to a 53 percent reduction in funding as compa...”
statistic, official document, points to no. Claim: Proposed FY 2026 CDC budget is a 53 percent reduction compared to FY 2024.
- Public Health Infrastructure in Crisis: HHS Workforce Cuts, Reorganizations, and Funding Reductions: Impacts and Solutions - TFAH
Source excerpt: “Among the report’s findings are that CDC’s budget would be reduced by 53 percent if the administration’s proposed FY 2026 budget is adopted. ”
statistic, official document, points to no. Claim: CDC budget would be reduced by 53 percent under the proposed FY 2026 budget.
- New Public Health Report Reveals Impact of Public Health Cuts - Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH)
Source excerpt: “Within the total proposed cut, CDC’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness program – the primary source of federal funding for state and local emergenc...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: CDC's Public Health Emergency Preparedness program, the primary federal funding source for state and local preparedness, faces a 52 percent cut.
- New Analysis: CDC's Budget Would be Reduced by 53 Percent if the Administration's Proposed FY 2026 Budget is Adopted; Over Sixty CDC Programs Would be Eliminated - TFAH
Source excerpt: “About 80 percent of the CDC’s domestic budget flows to states, localities, tribes and tribal organizations, healthcare systems, and community partners...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: About 80 percent of CDC's domestic budget flows to states, localities and partners, so federal cuts are local cuts.
- Federal Cuts to Public Health Infrastructure Threaten Hospital and Clinical Emergency Readiness
Source excerpt: “The report also flags the March 2025 termination of more than $12 billion in COVID-19-era grants — funding that had been broadened to support infectio...”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: March 2025 termination of more than $12 billion in COVID-era grants supporting monitoring, labs and preparedness.
- Federal Cuts to Public Health Infrastructure Threaten Hospital and Clinical Emergency Readiness
Source excerpt: “The report also flags the cancellation of nearly $500 million in contracts funding mRNA vaccine research and development in August 2025, describing th...”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: August 2025 cancellation of nearly $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts could disrupt countermeasure development.
- Federal Cuts to Public Health Infrastructure Threaten Hospital and Clinical Emergency Readiness
Source excerpt: “For hospital preparedness planners, the proposed FY 2027 budget — released after the report was substantially complete — adds additional concern: it w...”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: Proposed FY 2027 budget would eliminate the Hospital Preparedness Program and cut PHEP by about 52 percent.
- Federal Cuts to Public Health Infrastructure Threaten Hospital and Clinical Emergency Readiness
Source excerpt: “The report devotes significant attention to global health security, noting that the U.S. formally completed its withdrawal from the World Health Org...”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: U.S. completed withdrawal from the WHO in January 2026, reducing access to global outbreak data.
- Federal Cuts to Public Health Infrastructure Threaten Hospital and Clinical Emergency Readiness
Source excerpt: “The dissolution of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and reductions to CDC’s global health programs have further curtaile TFAH's ...”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: USAID dissolution and CDC global health cuts further curtailed global outbreak detection capacity.
- Ready or Not 2026: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism - TFAH
Source excerpt: “In 2025, the country faced the most severe flu season in nearly a decade, rising measles outbreaks, continued H5N1 avian influenza activity, and a gro...”
evidence, official document, points to no. Claim: 2025 brought severe flu season, measles outbreaks, H5N1 activity and extreme weather while federal preparedness systems were strained.
- Ready or Not 2026: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism - TFAH
Source excerpt: “The report also places states and the District of Columbia into three performance tiers: 20 states in the high-performance tier, 17 states and the Dis...”
statistic, official document, points to no. Claim: States placed into three performance tiers: 20 high, 17 plus D.C. middle.
- Ready or Not 2026: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism - TFAH
Source excerpt: “Ready or Not 2026: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism evaluates the nation’s readiness for public health emerge...”
statistic, official document, neutral. Claim: Report evaluates readiness through 10 indicators; paid sick leave access varies from 98 percent in Pacific states to 67 percent in East South Central.
- Federal Cuts to Public Health Infrastructure Threaten Hospital and Clinical Emergency Readiness
Source excerpt: “A new report from Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), released May 7, 2026, finds that this convergence of active threats and federal instability repre...”
attribution, article, points to no. Claim: TFAH report concludes convergence of threats and federal instability is a stress test; many states not well positioned.
- FY 2026 CDC Congressional Justification
Source excerpt: “Allocation Methods: Direct Federal/Intramural; Competitive Cooperative Agreements/Grants, including Formula ... CDC’s FY 2026 budget request of $963...”
statistic, official document, points to yes. Claim: CDC's FY2026 request of $963,291,000 for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases is $44 million above FY2025, including a Biothreat Radar Detection System.
- How Are We Preparing For the Next Pandemic? | FRONTLINE | PBS | Official Site | Documentary Series
Source excerpt: “In 2025, it released the “America First Global Health Strategy,” which included the stated goals of enabling early detection and containment of outbre...”
evidence, article, points to yes. Claim: In 2025 the administration released the America First Global Health Strategy with goals of early outbreak detection and containment.
- How Are We Preparing For the Next Pandemic? | FRONTLINE | PBS | Official Site | Documentary Series
Source excerpt: “The nonpartisan Center for Global Development noted that the plan signaled “continued U.S. commitment to global health,” including preventing pandemic...”
attribution, article, points to no. Claim: Center for Global Development noted continued commitment but called broader global health cuts devastating news.
- International meeting at USF Health: When the next pandemic comes, will we be ready?
Source excerpt: “What emerged from the meeting was both encouraging and cautionary. ”
attribution, article, neutral. Claim: Public health leaders at a 2026 meeting reached findings both encouraging and cautionary.
- International meeting at USF Health: When the next pandemic comes, will we be ready?
Source excerpt: “The COVID-19 pandemic made clear that public health guidance is only effective if people trust it. Mistrust, misinformation and confusion around evolv...”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: Mistrust, misinformation and confusion slowed COVID response; rebuilding trust must happen before the next crisis.