Senate Spares Funding for HIV Program, Removing It From DOGE Cuts Package

The Senate will remove a provision in a rescissions bill that would have cut funding for a program that combats HIV and AIDS, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) announced on July 15.

The rescissions bill would claw back $9 billion in federal spending, a $400 million reduction from the $9.4 billion in original cuts.

The program, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, would have seen a $400 million cut under the rescissions bill. The initiative, created during the George W. Bush administration, would result in a $1.9 billion reduction.

“There was a lot of interest among our members in doing something on the PEPFAR issue, and so that’s reflected in the substitute [amendment to change the bill],” Thune told reporters.

“We hope that we can get this across the finish line in the Senate, that the House would accept that one small modification that ends up making the package still about a $9 billion rescissions package, a little less than what was sent over from the House, but nonetheless, a significant down payment on getting rid of waste, fraud and abuse in our government.”

There were concerns among GOP senators about the cut to PEPFAR.

“I’ve made very, very clear what my position is on the rescissions bill, that there are some cuts that I can support, but I’m not going to vote to cut global health programs,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters on July 10.

With the change to the original bill, which passed the House on June 12, the bill would have to be passed again by the House if it were to pass the Senate.

PEPFAR has delivered $110 billion in HIV/AIDS relief, saving 26 million lives, according to the State Department.

The rescissions package also includes cutting $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS and NPR, both of which have come under fire from conservatives for liberal bias.

The claw-back package also includes $8.3 billion in cuts to initiatives under the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, which the Trump administration shuttered and whose functions are now under the State Department.

Congress has until July 18 to get the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. Otherwise, the funding that the bill seeks to cut will take effect. That would include the two-year funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Trump has made clear that he will not support any Republican who votes against the package.

“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” the president posted on Truth Social on July 10.

MSDNC is a nickname of MSNBC used by critics of the left-leaning network.

“Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or endorsement,” continued Trump.

One Republican holdout, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), announced on July 15 that he would support the bill.

“I will now vote to support President Trump’s rescissions package to clawback $9.4 billion in federal spending,” he posted on social media platform X.

“We wanted to make sure tribal broadcast services in South Dakota continued to operate which provide potentially lifesaving emergency alerts.

“We worked with the Trump administration to find Green New Deal money that could be reallocated to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption. We appreciate OMB Director Russ Vought and Senate Leadership for working with us to favorably resolve this issue.”