Few people appreciate President Donald Trump’s effort to reform the federal government like I do. As director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I witnessed firsthand the perils of untamed bureaucracy.

Launched in 1946 to combat malaria, the CDC has experienced severe mission creep over the past several decades. Almost contrary to its original objective of controlling and preventing communicable disease outbreaks, the agency now focuses on many areas that are well beyond its historical purview, such as gun violence, climate change, and social determinants of health. Today, the CDC commands an annual budget of more than $9 billion to perform, in many cases, redundant work that Congress has already tasked other agencies with doing.