Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Topics on this page: Summary of Activities that Continue | Summary of Contingency Staffing Plan
Summary of Activities that Continue
CDC will continue support to protect the health and well-being of US citizens here and abroad through response to outbreaks, maintaining laboratory functions, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the agency's 24/7 emergency operations center.
CDC will also ensure that staff that are currently supporting public health event responses will continue their important work to address immediate and ongoing public health needs in affected areas, especially the COVID-19 response and the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. CDC would also continue the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program, the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA), and the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, which are supported through mandatory funding.
HHS would use the full extent of the authority under the ADA to protect life and property under a lapse in appropriations. CDC's immediate response to urgent disease outbreaks and critical investigation needs in areas such as food, healthcare, vectors (mosquitoes and ticks), and high-consequence pathogens would continue. CDC would collect data being reported by states, hospitals, and others, and report out critical information needed for state and local health authorities and providers to track, prevent and treat diseases.
Summary of Contingency Staffing Plan
In the event of a lapse of appropriations, 5,160 (38%) of CDC staff will be retained including 2,338 (17%) who are exempt (their activities or positions are already funded or otherwise exempt) and 2,822 (21%) who are excepted (their activities are deemed necessary by implication, or for the safely of human life or protection of property).
Exempt Staff:
A total of 2,338 (17%) CDC staff will be performing activities without funding issues and are exempt; this includes include staff who are normally paid from or shifted to: administrative funds or user fees appropriated in authorizing legislation, carryover funding or advanced appropriations, or reimbursable funding for which the reimbursement is not paid from funds provided by the lapsed FY 2021 appropriation. The activities with funding available include work for PEPFAR, CDC's Global AIDS program, the World Trade Center Health Program, VFC, COVID-19 activities, and EEOICPA.
Excepted Staff:
A total of 2,822 (21%) CDC staff are considered excepted and can legally continue their activities in the absence of appropriations. These staff fall into three categories; 1) those whose work is necessary for the safety of human life, 2) those whose work is necessary for the protection of property, and 3) those whose work is "necessarily implied" from the authorized continuation of other activities.
Excepted CDC has 670 members of the Commissioned Corps who would be excepted. Officers in Commissioned Corps of US Public Health Service will carry out critical activities to protect public health and safety. Staff that would be excepted includes staff that will continue to perform vital tasks related to imminent threats to human health or life including responding to and managing disease and illness outbreaks, including those related to food safety and other critical public health emergencies as needed to protect the health and safety of Americans. These excepted staff will also be responsible for the protection and care of research participants and patients during clinical trial activities.
Excepted staff will also continue activities ensuring the protection of government research property, animals, and inanimate property. Examples include the care and feeding of any animals associated with research activities and maintaining research property used for regulatory science research such as high performance computational equipment.
Additionally staff will also be considered excepted and continue to work if their duties are necessary to ensure the ongoing support and operations of funded activities, or if they are needed for the orderly phase down and suspension of non-funded activities. These CDC staff will continue to provide the necessary operational support to ensure the centers and offices can continue authorized and funded activities.
