Proposed HHS, NIH budget cuts reveal administration priorities

Editor's Note

The Trump administration’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget calls for slashing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretionary budget by $32 billion, a nearly 25% cut that brings the total to $95 billion. Fierce Healthcare reported the news June 2.  Although many of the proposed cuts may not be adopted, the outline offers a clear view of the administration’s priorities heading into 2026.

The proposal includes an $18 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), reducing its budget to $27.5 billion, the outlet reports. It would consolidate the agency into eight institutes or centers, and even non-consolidated units would receive reduced funding. The National Cancer Institute faces a 37% cut of $2.7 billion.

According to the article the administration also seeks to eliminate the Affordable Care Act Prevention and Public Health Fund, which supported evidence-based activities like tobacco prevention, public health workforce training, immunizations, and screenings. Funding for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force would drop from $18 million to $7 million.  

HIV surveillance and prevention programs at the CDC also would be eliminated, Fierce Healthcare reports, although $220 million would remain for the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative—half its previous funding.  

HHS would be overhauled, including the elimination of 5,000 federal contracts and a return to pre-pandemic staffing levels. Various agencies would be combined in to the new, $14 billion Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). Other details in the full report include funding and priorities for the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, including nutrition, telehealth, and more, as well as for the Food and Drug Administration. Congressional committees are expected to begin budget markups this week.