During his State of the Union address in 2019, President Trump pledged, “to defeat AIDS in America and beyond,” urging Congress to commit hundreds of millions of dollars to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030. Six years later, with the release of his Fiscal Year 2026 discretionary funding request, it is clear that President Trump has abandoned those commitments, calling for massive public health funding cuts that will have disastrous and fatal consequences for people living with and affected by HIV in the United States and abroad.
In the FY26 discretionary funding request released today—referred to as the FY26 “skinny budget” because of its lack of detail—the Trump Administration is asking Congress to cut overall non-defense discretionary spending by $163 billion, a reduction in federal spending of 22.6% over FY25. These cuts are broad, cruel, and devastating. While the limited information provided in the Trump Administration’s FY26 Skinny Budget prevents us from knowing the full extent of the damage that would be inflicted by Trump Administration’s attack on our nation’s public health infrastructure, we know with absolute certainty that the damage would be vast and that our communities would be irreparably harmed.
Every aspect of our nation’s HIV response would be negatively impacted by this FY26 skinny budget if Congress allows it to move forward. This would include:
- Eliminating Part F of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which includes the AIDS Education & Training Centers that are responsible for public health workforce development around HIV and other infectious diseases, as well as the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Dental Program, and the Special Projects of National Significance. (-$74 million)
- Simultaneously merging and reducing funding for the CDC’s work around viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, and infectious diseases and the overdose epidemic into one grant program funded at $300 million. (-$77 million)
- Consolidating the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program (HOPWA) with the Continuum of Care program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development with the institution of a two year cap on services for unhoused and at-risk individuals. (-$532 million between the 2 programs)
- Completely eliminating the CDC’s Global Health Center (-$692 million) and the United States Agency for International Development (-$2.46 billion), which are critical to our efforts to end the HIV epidemic globally.
- Massive cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (-$1.065 billion), which would be dissolved and reconstituted as part of the new Administration for a Healthy America.
The FY26 skinny budget does not specifically mention funding for the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention or the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative. However, given the size of the overall cuts proposed here and in the leaked copy, we can surmise that this vital funding is under significant threat.
More will be revealed in the coming days and weeks with regard to these proposed cuts by the Trump Administration, but our mission moving forward is clear: AIDS United is committed to working with all stakeholders to push back on these horrific cuts and demand Congress the HIV safety net with the programing and funding required to save lives and protect our futures.
