U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday criticized the Trump administration’s cuts to federal public health programs, arguing a deadly hantavirus outbreak tied to an international cruise ship highlights the risks of reducing CDC staffing.
The Senate Minority Leader from New York called on the administration to rehire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cruise ship inspectors and Port Health Station staff laid off during cuts overseen by the Department of Government Efficiency, the cost-cutting initiative established during President Donald Trump’s first year in office by billionaire Elon Musk.
In a letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Schumer demanded details about the federal response to the outbreak and current CDC staffing levels. He also urged the White House to restore funding for infectious disease research, vaccine programs and viral threat surveillance, and to rejoin the World Health Organization.
"The very CDC inspectors and port health workers we need to track this virus, the people whose entire job is to keep deadly diseases off cruise ships and out of our country, Donald Trump fired them,” Schumer said.
The comments came as passengers aboard the MV Hondius, where an outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus has killed three people and sickened at least eight others, started returning to the United States and other countries.
On Friday, the CDC said, “the overall risk to travelers and the American public remains extremely low. Routine travel can continue as normal.” On Sunday, Schumer questioned the agency’s ability to assess the situation after staffing reductions.
“How do they know?” he said. “They have made it impossible to find out. That is not reassurance. That is incompetence.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Seven Americans have already returned to the United States after leaving the ship, according to the Associated Press. Two New Jersey residents were being monitored earlier this week after they were potentially exposed to the virus through contact with a passenger from the ship, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.
The remaining American passengers began heading home Sunday morning, according to Schumer’s office.
The Trump administration eliminated the CDC’s full-time Vessel Sanitation Program staff last year, according to previous CBS News reporting. The Associated Press also reported the CDC did not escalate its response to the outbreak until late Friday, drawing criticism from some public health experts.
New York City health officials said Friday they had not been notified that any city residents were aboard the MV Hondius, but said they were monitoring the situation and remained in close communication with the World Health Organization.
