New Health Budget Would Slash Billions From CDC, NIH

More detailed budget plans have been released by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 20, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Trump administration wants to slash billions in dollars from the budgets for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its divisions, according to a newly released document.

The administration is proposing a reduction of $4.9 billion to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a reduction of $19 billion to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a reduction of $500 million for the Food and Drug Administration, according to the document, which was made public by HHS on May 30.

Those cuts are up from the $3.5 billion reduction to the CDC and the $18 billion reduction to the NIH the White House detailed in its initial fiscal year 2026 budget request. No decrease in funding was listed in that summary.

The new HHS document proposes providing $4.3 billion in funding to the CDC, $27.5 billion in funding to the NIH, and $6.7 billion in funding to the FDA.

HHS says that the CDC’s “core mission” is supporting infectious disease surveillance, investigations into outbreaks, and maintaining the nation’s public health infrastructure.

“For too long, CDC has grown beyond these core functions, at the detriment of being a trusted voice amongst the American people,” the document states. “Going forward, CDC will be focused on gold standard science and regaining the confidence of the American people.”

With regard to the NIH, HHS said it is “ending wasteful practices focusing on DEI, gender ideology and focusing on NIH’s mission of only impactful science.” Officials have said they will reduce funding for foreign researchers while boosting money for replication, studies into autism, and nutrition research.

The FDA budget prioritizes Make America Healthy Again-related initiatives, including tackling infant formula issues and removing artificial dyes from the food supply, HHS said. It is also focusing on oversight of medical devices, regulations for tobacco, and repairs to FDA facilities.

The budget also includes about $1.2 billion less for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and $500 million less for the Administration for Children and Families as part of an overall reduction of $32 billion from the HHS budget. It also provides $900 million more for the Indian Health Service.

The restructuring announced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this year moves some HHS components, including certain CDC programs and the Health Resources and Services Administration, into a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America. The budget allocates $19 billion for the new office.

The restructuring also included the terminations of thousands of workers, with at least 5,000 being fired across the CDC and FDA.

Some groups decried the cuts outlined in the new document.

“If the proposal is enacted, Americans today and tomorrow will be sicker, poorer, and die younger,” Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley said in a statement. “American research has a proven track record of increasing survival, reducing the burden of illness, and creating jobs. Cutting research funding helps no one; instead, it hurts everyone.”

Kennedy told a Senate panel in May that the budget “includes reforms to put healthcare spending on a sustainable fiscal path.” He said that HHS would work with Congress to restructure the department.

In a statement accompanying the release of the more detailed budget proposal, HHS said it “reflects the President’s vision of making Americans the healthiest in the world while achieving his goal of transforming the bureaucracy.”