Comment by Papazsazsa

That’s not what happened. The Trump admin repeatedly proposed substantial CDC cuts, but Congress largely rejected them: CDC budget authority went from about $6B in 2017 to $7B in 2020, before counting the enormous emergency COVID appropriations. Once COVID hit, CDC received billions more, including $2B in the first supplemental and $4B in the CARES Act.

The truth is the CDC and broader public-health apparatus were not starved of money; they performed badly despite substantial resources. The CDC botched its initial COVID test, their systems were antiquated, guidance was wildly inconsistent, and the agency later reorganized itself after acknowledging major operational failures.