The Trump Administration Is Discussing Cutting Cdc’s Domestic Hiv Funding

The Trump administration is discussing cuts to the CDC’s domestic HIV program, including funding for prevention, according to two former HHS officials who were granted anonymity to discuss their conversations with current staff.

No decision has been made and an HHS official, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said that “if this decision is even made, this work would be continued elsewhere at HHS.”

In a statement, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told POLITICO that “HHS is following the Administration’s guidance and taking a careful look at all divisions to see where there is overlap that could be streamlined to support the President’s broader efforts to restructure the federal government.”

Nixon said the aim “is to ensure that HHS better serves the American people at the highest and most efficient standard. No final decision on streamlining CDC’s HIV Prevention Division has been made.”

The move would seem to run counter to one of Trump’s most high-profile first-term priorities. In 2019, he launched the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative with the goal of reducing new HIV cases in the U.S. 90 percent by 2030.

“In recent years we have made remarkable progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS,” Trump said during his 2019 State of the Union speech. “My budget will ask Democrats and Republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years.”

The CDC spends about $1 billion a year on domestic HIV prevention, most of it funneled to the states to help with local efforts. The discussion of cuts, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, comes as the administration looks for ways to shrink federal spending, and plans a reorganization of HHS.

The news of the possible cuts alarmed advocates of HIV prevention.

“This is the basic function of the CDC. Where does that money go? To the states — to do testing, to do surveillance, to do outreach efforts. Who's going to do that?” asked Carl Schmid, director at HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute who learned of the discussions from an official within the administration.