Is the US prepared to deal with another pandemic or widespread health crisis?

This is a topic with significant debate among experts, but recent evidence points to considerable concerns about U.S. pandemic preparedness, driven largely by federal funding and workforce reductions implemented since early 2025.

Signs of Weakened Preparedness

Major funding cuts. In March 2025, HHS began clawing back pandemic-related funding, with the Department of Health and Human Services announcing that billions of dollars allocated for pandemic response efforts were winding down, after the CDC had funneled over $11 billion to state health departments, organizations and international groups throughout the pandemic. A broader analysis found 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, though court orders blocked some terminations.

Proposed budget reductions. The FY2026 budget proposal was particularly stark: the President's proposed FY 2026 budget for CDC amounted to a 53 percent reduction in funding compared to FY 2024. More specifically, CDC's Public Health Emergency Preparedness program – the primary source of federal funding for state and local emergency preparedness – faced a 52 percent funding reduction, and over 100 public health programs and funding lines would be eliminated, including 61 programs at CDC.

Workforce losses. Staffing cuts have been severe: CDC lost approximately one quarter of its civilian workforce between fiscal years 2024 and 2026, with reductions spanning global health, health promotion, scientific research, and communications.

Research and countermeasure setbacks. The report also highlighted the cancellation of nearly $500 million in contracts funding mRNA vaccine research and development in August 2025, describing it as a potential disruption to countermeasures needed for the next public health emergency.

Global surveillance capacity reduced. On the international front, 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, while the dissolution of USAID and reductions to CDC's global health programs further curtailed international disease surveillance capabilities that historically served as an early warning system.

Leadership vacancies. Even the White House's own pandemic office has struggled: in 2025, Gerald Parker resigned as head of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, leaving the office with no employees.

Expert warnings. A former CDC official who resigned in 2025 was direct about the implications: declines in vaccination coverage, staffing losses at federal agencies, and terminated research grants have left the country less prepared than it was in 2020.

Mixed Picture at the State Level

A 2026 national assessment found significant unevenness across states. It noted the context: 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 came under significant strain. Specific vulnerabilities include:

The organization behind this assessment summarized the overall risk bluntly: amid deep federal staffing cuts, grant terminations, and other far-reaching changes to the federal public health system, the report finds wide variation in states' readiness for disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and other health emergencies, warning that federal disruption could weaken emergency readiness nationwide.

Bottom Line

The weight of recent expert and institutional analysis suggests the U.S. is less prepared for a major pandemic now than it was even during COVID-19, primarily due to steep cuts to CDC funding and staffing, the dismantling of global surveillance partnerships (WHO withdrawal, USAID dissolution), halted vaccine research contracts, and an empty White House pandemic office. At the same time, preparedness varies widely by state, and some underlying infrastructure (labs, response plans, hospital systems) built up over decades still exists — but experts are increasingly vocal that current trends point toward reduced, not improved, readiness for the next major health crisis.