Washington ( CNN ) -- Years of budget cuts have made two key U.S. agencies ' efforts to contain the threat of Ebola harder than it should be , Rep. Chris Van Hollen told CNN on Thursday . The Maryland Democrat pointed to spending cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health , which are both involved in the response to a Dallas man who this week became the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in the United States . `` There 's no doubt that the deep health care cuts that we 've seen have made it more difficult to respond in a rapid and comprehensive way to the Ebola outbreak , '' Van Hollen said . `` They 're doing everything they can with the resources they have now , but the cuts they 've seen in past years , they were like eroding the foundation and it clearly meant that they were starting from behind , '' he said . No 'Ebola czar ' is forthcoming , White House says . The CDC saw its discretionary funding cut by $ 585 million from 2010 to 2014 , while the NIH 's budget was slashed by $ 446 million over the last four years . Anthony Fauci , director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases , spelled out the impact of the cuts in dire terms during a recent hearing on Capitol Hill . `` I have to tell you honestly it 's been a significant impact on us , '' Fauci said . `` It has both in an acute and a chronic , insidious way eroded our ability to respond in the way that I and my colleagues would like to see us be able to respond to these emerging threats . And in my institute particularly , that 's responsible for responding on the dime to an emerging infectious disease threat , this is particularly damaging . '' CDC director : Why U.S. can stop Ebola in its tracks . The CDC also cited the budget cuts in a report earlier this year , saying that annual funding for its public health preparedness and response efforts were $ 1 billion lower in the 2013 fiscal year than in 2002 . `` CDC continues to work with reduced financial resources , which similarly affects state , local , and insular public health departments , '' the report said . `` These losses make it difficult for state and local health departments to continue to expand their preparedness capabilities , instead forcing them to focus on maintaining their current capabilities . '' Complete coverage on Ebola .
Several key state health agencies have faced steep budget cuts in recent years . Governor Chris Van Hollen says those cuts ` ` have made it more difficult '' to control the Ebola outbreak . One agency director : ` ` I have to tell you honestly it 's been a significant impact on us ''