The House Appropriations Committee is proposing a 6% cut to the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The panel released the proposed budget bill for the 2026 fiscal year that governs the HHS as well as the departments of Labor and Education, suggesting a $108 billion outlay for the HHS. That’s $7 billion less than what was set aside for fiscal year 2025, according to a fact sheet (PDF).
In the announcement, the committee highlights that $48 billion is set for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with emphasis on the Trump administration’s focus on tackling chronic disease. It also maintains Head Start funding at $12.3 billion and Child Care and Development Block Grants at $8.7 billion.
In the fact sheet, the committee specifically calls out that NIH’s $48 billion is “a necessary counter to China’s growing threat in basic science research.” The proposal would also bar buying supplies from China for the Strategic National Stockpile and instead focus on buying from American manufacturers.
And, while the panel did put a focus on funding outlays to NIH, it is proposing a 19% cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That reduction will also streamline 35 “duplicative and controversial programs” and focus the agency “on communicable diseases rather than social engineering,” according to the fact sheet.
It would also entirely eliminate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or AHRQ, which the committee has deemed “duplicative.”
The bill would also commit $3 billion to the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
The budget proposal includes $1.85 billion in funding to support primary care services, including community health centers, and $1.36 billion to “strengthen the healthcare workforce,” per the fact sheet.
“This bill prioritizes cutting-edge biomedical research, strengthens our medical supply chains and biodefense infrastructure, and ensures support for rural hospitals and public health programs,” Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-Okla., said in an announcement. “With each measure, we reaffirm that Making America Healthy Again is not just a slogan, but a promise.”
The bill would allocate $100 million to the MAHA effort, which the sheet says will allow HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the movement’s figurehead, “to invest in prevention and innovation programs for rural communities, telehealth resources for chronic care, and nutrition services.”
The budget proposal would also extend the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal programs from using funding for abortion services outside of emergency situations or in the case of rape or incest.
The Appropriations Committee will mark up the bill late Tuesday, according to its website.
Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee, said in the announcement the scale of funding that goes to these agencies offers “one of the greatest opportunities for us to reevaluate our spending priorities.”
“Even last year, we were dedicated to getting government spending under control,” Aderholt said in the press release. “But now, it’s particularly encouraging to have a partner in the White House that shares this commitment.
“The Trump Administration, through its Department of Government Efficiency, has already begun working with agencies to realign spending where it should be, helping us build on that shared momentum for fiscal responsibility,” he said.
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