U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during the signing of executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
A Trump administration cut from April earned fresh criticism from safety advocates on Labor Day.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's team dedicated to preventing drownings was cut that month as part of broader federal budget cuts and agency restructuring. The team tracked drowning incidents, analyzed data, and worked on public safety campaigns. It was disbanded, sparking concerns from public health advocates over the loss of national leadership and data analysis on how to prevent drownings.
The cuts earned fresh scrutiny from Alissa Magrum, executive director of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, who noted Labor Day is one of the "deadliest holiday weekends for drownings and water-related tragedies." With the gutting of the CDC's drowning prevention team, Americans lost a "key source of information that helps save lives," she said.
"The agency and that team have helped us better understand who is drowning, where they’re drowning and why, so that we can develop effective drowning prevention programs," Magrum said. "That's why we find it appalling that drowning prevention team was recently fired and its work immediately halted."
She called it "equally outrageous to hear that the entire program appears to be missing from the 2026 budget."
Magrum warned that the slashing will ripple through the water safety community.
"When one considers the country’s alarming drowning statistics and the fact that drowning costs the U.S. economy more than $50 billion a year, by the CDC’s own account, these cuts make zero sense," wrote Magrum.
She noted that CDC data showed more than 4,000 people die from unintentional drowning every year. It's the leading cause of death for toddlers and among the leaders for older kids, teens, and adults. The cuts also come at a time when drownings spiked 28% from 2019-2022 among children 1-4, and 19% among adults 65-74.