Americans’ confidence in federal health agencies has plummeted since 2025, according to a Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation’s Public Health Listening Lab poll out Tuesday.
The new national poll suggests that U.S. adults’ trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal health institutions has plunged significantly. Just 50% of the public says they now trust health recommendations from the CDC, down from 77% in spring 2025, the survey shows.
The poll also found that the majority of respondents currently trust health recommendations from their local (70%) and state (66%) public health agencies. Meanwhile, 55% of Americans expressed disapproval of federal health agencies’ actions over the last year, with 68% saying that their recommendations have been swayed too much by leaders’ personal beliefs, the poll says.
Of those surveyed, 66% believe that health leaders are focused on the wrong priorities, while 61% thought healthcare programs have been cut or scaled back too much.
“Public trust in health institutions declined significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic amid heavy-handed mandates and inconsistent messaging during the Biden administration,” a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Wednesday. “Rebuilding that trust requires honesty, informed consent, and respect for individual choice. Secretary Kennedy remains committed to ensuring public health policies are grounded in gold-standard science and to restoring confidence in the nation’s public health institutions.”
“The Department continues to operate effectively through its experienced career officials, senior leadership, and public health experts, while the Trump Administration continues to recruit highly qualified individuals to serve across HHS,” the spokesperson added. “Since day one, Secretary Kennedy has focused on restoring trust through greater transparency, strengthening accountability, and supporting the public servants who work every day to protect Americans and advance the nation’s health security.”
“Health information shouldn’t bend to elections,” de Beaumont Foundation President and CEO Brian C. Castrucci toldThe Hill on Tuesday. “If we’re in a nation where red states believe CDC and blue states don’t, or vice versa, it will make it near impossible for us to confront outbreaks and national health challenges. It would be tantamount to having half the states believe that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and half the states believing it was misinformation.”
President Donald Trump tapped Dr. Erica Schwartz in April as his nominee for CDC Director, sparking criticism among some Make America Healthy Again supporters.
The CDC has notably lost almost 3,000 employees since January 2025 amid layoffs, forced retirements and resignations, Fortune reported on June 3.
Interviews for the poll were conducted with a representative sample of 2,205 U.S. adults ages 18 and older from March 19 to April 1, 2026. The poll’s margin of error at the 95% confidence interval is plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.
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