Robert Redfield
Few people appreciate President Donald Trump’s effort to reform the federal government like I do. As director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I witnessed firsthand the perils of untamed bureaucracy.
Launched in 1946 to combat malaria, the CDC has experienced severe mission creep over the past several decades. Almost contrary to its original objective of controlling and preventing communicable disease outbreaks, the agency now focuses on many areas that are well beyond its historical purview, such as gun violence, climate change, and social determinants of health. Today, the CDC commands an annual budget of more than $9 billion to perform, in many cases, redundant work that Congress has already tasked other agencies with doing.
When the administrative state expands its scope, not only do taxpayers bear the burden, but agencies become less nimble and able to respond to crises. It’s this lack of efficiency that Trump is working to correct across the whole of the federal government. The U.S. Agency for International Development, whose budget had ballooned to more than $40 billion, was a justified target for review and a reduction in force.
However, not everything funded through USAID needed to go into the woodchipper. That includes our lifesaving programs overseas—there are quite a few programs that make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. One example is the President’s Malaria Initiative.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement that 18% of USAID programs will remain at the State Department, including critical malaria programs, is the right approach to end what’s broken and keep programs that work. Since its beginning, U.S. malaria aid has prevented billions of cases and saved lives—millions of them. These programs help America attain a position of strength in regions that are otherwise susceptible to overtures from our rivals.
From a public health standpoint, blocking the spread of this infectious disease overseas means we don’t have to deal with outbreaks here. » Read More
https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/commentary/trump-right-cut-waste-and-save-malaria-initiatives