The Trump Administration Is Dismantling One of America’s Greatest Strategic Assets: Its Scientific Workforce

This is a policy story rather than a home-upgrade one, but it touches the health and research system many households rely on. Federal science and public health agencies have lost a large share of their staff over the past year and a half. Between September 2024 and May 2026, workforce cuts reached about 21.6% at the National Institutes of Health, 22.2% at the Food and Drug Administration, 28.1% at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35.3% at the National Science Foundation, and 72.1% at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Many senior leadership positions at these agencies remain unfilled.

Funding has dropped too. Research grants from public health and disease-prevention agencies fell 11.1% in fiscal year 2025, and research contract funding fell 49.4%. A change in how NIH funds multiyear grants has meant 24% fewer new research studies got started in 2025, with fewer scientists receiving grants than the year before. Employee morale at the Department of Health and Human Services has also fallen sharply, according to a federal workplace survey.

The concern raised is that fewer scientists and less research funding mean slower responses to disease outbreaks, weaker food and drug safety oversight, and less capacity to catch health threats early. Recent outbreaks of measles, cyclosporiasis, and hantavirus are cited as reminders of what this kind of prevention work is meant to catch. There's no direct action for homeowners here, but it's a sign of broader strain on the public health system.