CASE STUDY: How Global and Domestic Advocates Saved PEPFAR Funds

The Threat

Immediately after taking office in January 2025, President Donald Trump and his administration made massive, sudden and catastrophic cuts and changes to US foreign aid programs. This included layoff and terminations, the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and the suspension or cancellation of billions of dollars in federal funding for foreign aid already appropriated by Congress. Appropriation is the process by which Congress exercises its “power of the purse” and approves spending by various US government agencies and programs. It is unlawful for any branch of government, including the Executive, to interfere with appropriations. In an effort to retroactively legalize the cancellation of funds, the Trump Administration presented Congress with a ‘rescissions package’ that, if voted into law, would have legalized USD $400 million in cuts for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Presented with this package in the form of a proposed bill, members of Congress had the power to pass the legislation, reject it, or to amend the bill to preserve some of the funding.

The Response

The Save HIV Funding (SHF) campaign members mobilized a rapid response to fight the proposed cuts to PEPFAR that would have furthered the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle HIV funding and infrastructure. Over 150 SHF member organizations joined together in the fight to save $400 million in global foreign assistance for HIV programs from the rescissions package.

The Results

Hours before Congress voted to pass the FY2025 Rescissions Package bill, the PEPFAR funding cuts were removed from the package. In the days prior to this development, members of Congress voiced public concern about the inclusion of PEPFAR resources in this package. Major, devastating cuts to domestic infrastructure including public broadcasting, and to global health programs went through. But the preservation of global HIV funding was a sign that principled bipartisan consensus on priorities for US investments can still prevail.

The Tactics

National engagement with committed membership

SHF is coordinated by AVAC, HIVMA and PrEP4All. AVAC works both globally and domestically, and provided a bridge between internationally-focused groups such as the Global AIDS Policy Partnership (GAPP) and domestic coalitions, to ensure message consistency, consensus on tactics and strategies among groups with robust contextual knowledge and diverse strengths. Advocates connected global implications to US policy decisions, ensuring that organizations could engage most effectively with policymakers and in the larger policy space.

Relevant, practical, polished resources, trainings and message

SHF works closely with the Collier Collective – a Washington DC-based government relations consultancy – who helped shape a coordinated strategy supported by powerful messages to use in targeted outreach to policymakers. Collier Collective, along with SHF members, created a trusted clearinghouse for credible policy updates, webinars, talking points, and strategic guidance.

Flood-the-zone engagement with advocacy targets

The SHF campaign recognized that the current climate in Congress required messaging that was specific, realistic, and targeted to individual lawmakers. The SHF messaging strategy framed the rescissions as setting a precedent that undermines Congress’s budget authority, the bipartisan appropriations process, and US global leadership, in addition to threatening lifesaving HIV programs. To respond effectively, the campaign paired a specific ask, reject the entire rescissions package, with non-partisan talking points that allies in congress could champion. In coordination, targeted messages were deployed on the risk of funding cuts to individual districts and states if the package passed. Armed with scripts, advocacy targets, and actions, the SHF network persistently saturated the US policy environment with clear messaging. This effort amplified and aligned with what global advocates were calling for, ensuring consistency across audiences, strengthening the call to action. While the full rescissions package ultimately moved forward, the campaign’s strategy ensured that PEPFAR was removed.

Lessons Learned

Trusted relationships built over time support rapid mobilization in crisis

The pre-existing relationship among the early members of the campaign was leveraged to quickly mobilize the network around a common goal and shared values. SHF had been fighting back against mis- and dis-information about US HIV investments for two years by the time the recissions package arrived. We built on our ongoing work to move media coverage from centering misleading claims about the program, to public discourse highlighting the historic impact of PEPFAR and the harms created by abrupt funding disruptions, creating the right conditions for bipartisan buy-in of the campaign. Trusted connections and relationships between Global North-South advocates and beneficiaries were also formed as a core component of the advocacy.

Maintaining real-time alignment across global and domestic advocates required intensive coordination and dedicated support.

Tracking and distilling the evolving USG landscape demanded continuous monitoring, quick translation of complex information, and immediate dissemination to the campaign network. Responding to these threats required sustained coordination and capacity to ensure advocacy was timely.

Formula for Sustaining Momentum

• Maintain and expand the trust-based coalition to include additional active partners from the global South
• Keep up Congressional engagement
• Fund advocacy for policy change