Key points
- Plan would still require approval by Congress
- Total HHS budget stands around $1.8 trillion
- Quarter of HHS staff already slashed
ISLAMABAD: The administration of US President Donald Trump is looking to cut some $40 billion in funding from its Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing preliminary budget documents, that this cut would represent roughly a third of the health department’s discretionary spending, it said.
A preliminary financial plan that would still require approval by Congress, the framework for the Department of Health and Human Services comes amid massive cuts to the government under Donald Trump and his top advisor, billionaire Elon Musk.
The $40 billion of cuts proposed for 2026 would slash deeply into the $121 billion approved by Congress in 2024.
“Discretionary spending”
This “discretionary spending” is vastly outweighed by hundreds of billions in mandatory outlays, especially on public health insurance programmes Medicare and Medicaid, which bring the total HHS budget to around $1.8 trillion.
Massive restructuring had already been announced in March for the HHS, slashing about a quarter of its staff.
Job cuts have also hit key agencies under the department’s supervision, including the epidemic-fighting Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which approves new medications.
“Major shuffling”
The proposed budget “calls not only for cuts, but a major shuffling and restructuring of health and human services agencies,” The Washington Post wrote.
Several branches of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) research agency would be merged.
Set to get the axe include programs on chronic disease, projects to improve rural access to health care, and early education for children from low-income families.
