U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee voted July 31 to reject the Trump-Vance administration’s proposed termination of the CDC’s HIV prevention and surveillance efforts and its call for a 40 percent reduction in NIH funding.
With overwhelming bipartisan support, the Republican-controlled committee vetoed other cuts to public health programs that were included in President Donald Trump’s FY 2026 budget plan, which would have eliminated the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS initiative and cut funding or block grants for prevention efforts focused on hepatitis, other STIs, and tuberculosis.
Senate appropriators preserved parts of the administration’s budget that had maintained funding for HIV prevention, care, treatment, and PrEP programs — including $542 million for the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative that was launched during Trump’s first term, and most of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.
In a press release, HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute President Carl Schmid said “We are pleased that senators of both parties recognize the critical importance of preventing HIV in the United States and the value of nationwide surveillance, testing, education, and PrEP programs.”
“The president’s proposed elimination of HIV prevention and surveillance programs, along with on and off staff and grant cuts and delays, have left HIV prevention in disarray,” he said. “We hope the Senate’s vote of confidence for HIV prevention will start to bring the stability we need so that state and local health departments, other grantees, and staff can get back to doing their work.”
Schmid added that in his second term, Trump has largely maintained federal funding for HIV treatment, but “it has been a very difficult year” for HIV prevention.
“We hope today marks a new beginning, which we hope will soon be duplicated in the House of Representatives,” he said.
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