Save HIV Funding Campaign Welcomes Senate FY26 Appropriations Outcome
Organizers of the Save HIV Funding campaign welcome recent developments in the fiscal year 2026 (FY26) appropriations process in the Senate, where strong bipartisan support for continued HIV funding is evident. On Thursday, the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Services (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee denied the Trump Administration’s efforts to slash vital HIV testing, treatment, education and training, research and prevention programs as part of its FY26 Budget Request to Congress. The LHHS Committee largely upheld the existing bipartisan HIV funding levels and rejected a damaging proposal by the administration to transfer HIV prevention services from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to a new and ill-defined Administration for a Healthy America. Echoing community demands from the past two years, accompanying report language in the bill once again highlighted the need for equitable PrEP access. Now the fight moves back to the House which is currently in recess until early September when they are expected to mark up their version of the LHHS bill. These outcomes represent a victory for every advocate who contacted their Senators this summer to demand that they save HIV funding.
The Labor HHS bill also rejected calls from the Trump administration to reduce spending at the National Institutes of Health, opting instead to increase funding by $400M. While this is a victory for all advocates for healthcare innovation, HIV/AIDS advocates have been particularly vocal on protecting NIH, hosting a Congressional Briefing on July 9th.
These successes build on a recent advocate victory in the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Subcommittee. On July 24th, THUD resoundingly rejected President Trump’s attempts to end vital housing programs for people living with HIV/AIDS, calling instead for a $24M increase to the HOPWA program. The House THUD bill maintained level funding.
Though advocates were largely successful in the Senate, a proposed $5M cut to the Minority AIDS Funding must be reversed in the next stage of this fight. And the battle to protect vital HIV services in the House will be harder: for the past two years, House appropriators have proposed over $700M in cuts to HIV funding. Though advocates have successfully beat back these attacks, we will have to redouble our efforts and demand that funding levels and report language match the outcome in the Senate.
The Save HIV Funding campaign has put together an updated action alert for Accountability August: part of a broader push for legislators to reject cuts and fully fund life-saving, cost-effective HIV programs while placing communities before billionaires. Please join the Save HIV Funding Campaign in holding Congress accountable. For other ways to get involved, go to our website (savehivfunding.org) or email Maxx Boykin ([email protected]).
This year, the stakes are higher and the battle ground is tougher, so the HIV community must act now and sustain its advocacy throughout the fall. Maintaining critical, life-saving HIV program resources that support and protect people living with and vulnerable to HIV nationwide is paramount. Fight back against conservative advocacy for austerity and spending cuts and demand that Congress fully fund HIV programs because cuts kill.