The Trump administration is seeking to slash the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget by nearly a third, according to multiple reports.
An initial draft of the White House budget request calls for dropping the agency’s discretionary budget from its fiscal 2024 enacted level of about $117 billion to $80 billion in fiscal 2026, according to The Washington Post.
The draft calls for the creation and funding of a new agency called the Administration for a Healthy America, which would encompass parts of other agencies being eliminated, such as HIV/AIDS prevention research and much of the National Institutes of Health, according to a report in Politico.
To achieve the massive savings, the draft budget would recommend eliminating entire agencies, like the Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration and Health Resources and Services Administration.
When asked for comment, Office of Management and Budget spokesperson Rachel Cauley said, “no final funding decisions have been made.”
The budget request comes as the Trump administration has already drastically downsized HHS, laying off 10,000 people with another 10,000 departing through the “fork in the road” and other incentives.
The cuts hit across all agencies and programs, including testing for lead safety, tobacco products, sexually transmitted illnesses, and many more.
According to the draft obtained by the Post, all of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chronic disease programs and domestic HIV work would be eliminated.
White House budget requests are usually just aspirational documents to outline administration priorities and are ignored by lawmakers, but this Congress has shown an extreme deference to President Trump.
