A year into the second Trump administration, trust in federal health institutions has collapsed. The decline is not uniform. It is deeply partisan. And public health experts are sounding the alarm.
Only 50 per cent of the public says they trust health recommendations from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a new poll conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation’s Public Health Listening Lab. That is down from 77 per cent in spring 2025 — a drop of 27 points in just one year.
State and local health departments are now substantially more trusted than federal agencies, even as trust in those institutions also declined. Between 2025 and 2026, trust in state public health agencies dropped from 80 per cent to 66 per cent. Trust in local public health agencies dropped from 82 per cent to 70 per cent.
The federal government is losing the public’s confidence across the board. But the story is not just about decline. It is about division.
The Partisan Split
The decline in trust is being driven by partisanship. Only 34 per cent of Democrats said they trust CDC recommendations, a massive drop from 92 per cent in 2025. Among Independents, trust in the CDC dropped from 77 per cent to 47 per cent. Among Republicans, trust in the CDC increased very slightly from 63 per cent to 67 per cent.
The numbers tell a stark story. Democrats have lost nearly all confidence in the CDC. Republicans have modestly increased theirs. The agency that once commanded broad bipartisan trust is now a partisan flashpoint.
“Health information shouldn’t bend to elections,” said Brian C. Castrucci, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation. “If we’re in a nation where red states believe CDC and blue states don’t, or vice versa, it will make it nearly impossible for us to confront outbreaks and national health challenges. It would be tantamount to having half the states believe that Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, and half the states believing it was misinformation.”
Disapproval and Distrust
The poll did not ask about Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. specifically. Instead, it asked about the actions of health agencies in the past year. A 55 percent majority said they disapprove of federal public health agencies’ actions. The partisan breakdown was hard: 86 percent of Democrats said they disapprove, but only one in five Republicans.
Top public concerns include a 68 percent agreement that agency recommendations were too influenced by leaders’ personal beliefs. A similar number said agencies were focused too much on the wrong priorities. About six in ten agreed that agencies have cut or scaled back programs too much, made too many decisions without following standard processes, and cut or scaled back government funding for health or medical research too much.
Vaccines Still Supported, but Erosion Is Visible
On vaccines, the poll found that a strong majority support for routine childhood vaccination requirements remains. More than three-quarters of the public, including majorities of both parties, said that parents should be required to vaccinate their children in order to attend school — nearly the same level as during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A majority of Americans also opposed changing the childhood vaccination schedule. However, there was some notable softening of underlying support for vaccines. Overall, 89 percent said childhood vaccines were either very safe or somewhat safe. That percentage was a drop from 94 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022.
“I think we are overstating the country’s reticence to vaccination,” Castrucci said. “However, we’re seeing erosion, and that’s the scary part.”
Food Policy Remains Popular
Food policy continues to be the more popular of Kennedy’s MAHA initiatives. According to the poll, 60 percent of Americans support the recent changes to the food pyramid and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
On specific measures included in the new Dietary Guidelines, 90 percent said they agreed with a recommendation to avoid or sharply limit sugar and highly processed food, while 85 percent agreed with recommendations to increase protein intake.
The Bottom Line
Trust in the CDC has plunged to 50 percent during Trump’s first year back in office, down from 77 percent in spring 2025, according to a new Harvard poll. The decline is driven by partisanship: Democrats’ trust crashed from 92 percent to 34 percent, while Republicans’ trust rose slightly from 63 percent to 67 percent. State and local health departments are now more trusted than federal agencies. A majority disapprove of federal health agencies’ actions. Support for childhood vaccines remains strong but is eroding. Food policy changes are popular.
“Health information shouldn’t bend to elections,” one expert warned. But the poll suggests that, for millions of Americans, it already does.
