Policy Updates: Hill Happenings and Administration Activities
Hill Happenings
CBO Score Projects 10 Million Coverage Losses Under “One Big Beautiful Bill”
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its updated score for the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” projecting 10 million people would lose health coverage over the next decade due to proposed changes to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies. A new KFF analysis of the CBO data estimates that uninsured rates would rise in every state, with the largest impacts in states like Texas, Florida, and Georgia. The projected coverage losses are primarily driven by Medicaid work requirements, tighter eligibility rules, and the elimination of enhanced ACA subsidies. While the bill’s supporters emphasize its potential for long-term deficit reduction, the coverage implications are likely to be a key focus as Senate negotiations continue.
Minority Leader Sen. Schumer Calls on HHS to Reinstate Funding for HIV Programs
On June 3, Senate minority leader Senator Schumer (D-NY) sent a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in response to the Administration’s withholding of funds and termination of key personnel for HIV programs across HHS agencies and operating divisions. Sen. Schumer called on HHS to immediately reinstate all funding that was withheld and provide a detailed clarification of the workforce and resources that HHS will dedicate to preventing and treating HIV by July 1, 2025. The Senator highlighted President Trump’s former support for ending the HIV epidemic during his first term and warned that the cuts at HHS will undermine the progress made to achieve the elimination targets by 2030.
House Passes Bill to Reauthorize the SUPPORT Act
On June 5, the House of Representatives passed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 2483), advancing the bill with bipartisan support despite lingering concerns from some Democrats. The bill reauthorizes and updates key provisions from the original 2018 SUPPORT Act, which established and expanded a wide range of federal opioid and substance use disorder (SUD) programs. Lawmakers raised concerns about the federal government’s reduced capacity to implement these programs following staffing cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the restructuring of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The bill now heads to the Senate, where debate may continue over its implications for Medicaid and the behavioral health safety net.
Rescissions Package Targets Foreign Aid and Public Media in Push for Spending Cuts
House Republicans are moving forward with a $9.4 billion rescissions package that would slash foreign aid—including significant funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)—and gut over $1 billion from public broadcasting. The proposed cuts to PEPFAR’s prevention efforts have sparked concern among both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, prompting quiet White House assurances that some key prevention programs will be spared. Still, the administration plans to scale back global AIDS funding overall, with officials citing ideological differences with nonprofit implementers and rising federal debt.
Administration Activities
White House Releases Agency-Level Budget Details for FY2026
On May 30, the Trump Administration released the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Budget in Brief, which provides agency-level and programmatic details on the Administration’s budget proposals for FY2026. The Budget in Brief proposes large cuts to health funding, including HIV prevention, and the creation of a new agency the Administration for Healthy America (AHA). The Administration also released the Congressional Justifications for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and AHA.
Kennedy Fires CDC Vaccine Panel, Drawing Bipartisan Concern Over Future of Immunization Policy
On June 9, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. dismissed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the panel responsible for making vaccine recommendations to the CDC. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Kennedy claimed the committee suffers from conflicts of interest and has served as a rubber stamp for vaccine approvals. The move has sparked bipartisan concern, with Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) saying it contradicts assurances Kennedy gave during his confirmation process to preserve ACIP’s structure. Critics fear Kennedy may appoint individuals with limited scientific expertise, potentially undermining trust in the nation’s immunization system.
Resources
CDC MMWR: Missed Opportunities for Congenital Syphilis Prevention
“The rate of syphilis among reproductive-age women in Clark County, Nevada, increased more than 200% during 2017-2022. More than half of the mothers of newborns with congenital syphilis in Clark County, NV, during this timeframe did not receive prenatal care, but most did visit an emergency department during pregnancy, providing a possible opportunity for syphilis testing and congenital syphilis prevention.”
KFF: Domestic HIV Funding in the White House FY2026 Budget Request
“The FY 2026 request marks a significant change in approach for domestic HIV programs and funding levels. It eliminates or transforms several core programs, while maintaining others. Additionally, past proposals to bolster PrEP uptake were not included in this request. Notably, an OMB document leaked earlier this year indicated that the administration was considering eliminating the “Ending the HIV Epidemic” (EHE) initiative, an effort created by the first Trump administration, but the final budget request retains funding for EHE (at least for accounts where funding levels are available). While detailed funding information is not available for all accounts, where levels are known for both years, the FY 2026 budget request for domestic HIV programs represents a $1.5 billion (35%) decline compared to FY 2025 levels.”
Job Postings
Executive Director of Programs – New York City, NY
The New York City Health Department is seeking an Executive Director of Programs to join its Bureau of Hepatitis, HIV, and STIs (BHHS). The Executive Director of Programs will provide day-to-day oversight and operational support to BHHS’s HIV Care and Treatment Program, HIV Epidemiology Program, HIV Prevention Program, STI Program, and Viral Hepatitis Program, which comprise the majority of the bureau’s staff. The Executive Director of Programs will report to BHHS’s Assistant Commissioner and work alongside the Assistant Commissioner and BHHS leadership to ensure these Programs are supported to function optimally and collaboratively, and that BHHS is well-positioned to implement its strategic priorities and achieve its mission to improve the lives of New Yorkers by ending transmission, illness, stigma, and inequities related to viral hepatitis, HIV, and STIs. For more information or to apply for the position, visit the job posting on NYC Jobs, here.
News Bulletin
A promising new HIV vaccine was set to start trials. Then came Trump's latest cuts
“For nearly 15 years, Dennis Burton worked on a project aimed at solving what he calls "one of the most difficult problems in biomedicine" — creating an HIV vaccine. That work was funded by the largest National Institutes of Health-funded program devoted to such research, with a seven-year grant totaling $258 million, and is considered one of the leading vaccine efforts. On May 30, he learned that work will end. In a video call, NIH officials told him that the Trump administration was terminating the program next year.”
Used in Covid Shots, mRNA May Help Rid the Body of H.I.V.
“The technology that powered Covid vaccines may also lead scientists to a cure for H.I.V. Using mRNA, Australian researchers said they were able to trick the virus to come out of hiding, a crucial step in ridding the body of it entirely. The research, published last week in Nature Communications, is still preliminary, and so far, has been shown to be successful only in a lab. But it suggests that mRNA has potential far beyond its use in vaccines as a means to deliver therapies against stubborn adversaries.”
He led George W. Bush's PEPFAR program to stop AIDS. Now he fears for its future
“Now the future of PEPFAR is hazy. On Tuesday, President Trump asked Congress to rescind $8.3 billion in foreign aid that lawmakers had already approved in 2024 and 2025 budgets — including $400 million allocated to PEPFAR. The cuts would drastically reduce work on HIV and other infectious diseases. It's part of an ask, known as a rescission request, that would eliminate a total of $9.4 billion in funding for foreign aid and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS.”