From Safety Nets to Budget Cuts: The Ongoing Shift in US Priorities

Jul 23, 2025

In July, Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” combining tax cuts for high earners with sweeping cuts to Medicaid, rural care, health research, and global health. Nonpartisan analysts expect the Medicaid provisions alone to leave 10 million Americans without health insurance coverage once the law takes effect.

Just weeks later, Congress approved a rescissions package that clawed back billions of dollars in already-appropriated funding, including roughly $8 billion for global health and foreign aid programs, the majority slated for USAID. A $400M cut to PEPFAR was spared, but advocates warn damage to HIV response and U.S. global health leadership is already being felt. “Sparing any one program alone is not enough,” said Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, President and CEO of Global Health Council. “If we are serious about ending preventable deaths, both at home and abroad, we must protect the full ecosystem of global health programs.”

These legislative actions continue the shift away from domestic health equity and US leadership in global health, threatening essential services and pandemic preparedness in vulnerable communities both at home and abroad. The Global Health Council and other advocacy members “urge Congress to protect the full range of global health investments in the FY26 appropriations bills currently being negotiated and to uphold its commitments to the people who depend on these programs to survive.”

Review our updated list of resources and sources below.

RESOURCES

Tracking Impact

The Impact Metrics Dashboard (Boston University) visualizes the human impact of funding changes for aid and support organizations. The site has an impact tracker for PEPFAR, tuberculosis (TB), and Medicaid and is looking for additional collaborators. Read more.
GHTC tracks how US investments in global health R&D are paying economic and health dividends in each state. (Learn more)
Also see Center for Global Development I How Many Lives Does US Foreign Aid Save?
KFF has a new series of fact sheets on the status of U.S. global health aid cuts, from maternal and child health to TB and malaria, and fact sheets on global health program impact.
KFF also has an overview of President Trump’s executive actions on global health and a timeline of events that provides a detailed overview of actions (and counter-actions) related to the administration’s efforts to freeze all U.S. foreign aid and dissolve USAID.
Grant Watch’s Weekly Terminated NIH Grants Report presents an overview of recent trends in NIH grant terminations, reinstatements, new grant initiations, and continuations.
An overview of the last 30 days of what has happened to public health and a running list of actions by the Trump administration to undermine public health. [Jessica Knurick]
Emory Rollins Public Health has shared data showing the impact of public health cuts.
Devex Court Watch: The latest on the USAID docket
Devex ‘The Trump Effect’, highlighting the latest news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive insights on how the Trump administration’s policies are reshaping global development.

Advocacy and Mobilization

Alliance members CUGH (here and here), DNDi, For Our Health (here and here), Friends of the Global Fight (here and here), GAIA (here and here), Global Health Corps (here and here), Global Health Council (here and here), Global Health Technologies Coalition (here and here), IDEO.org (here and here), Maya Health Alliance | Wuqu’ Kawoq, MedShare, Nexleaf Analytics (here and here), North Carolina Global Health Alliance (here and here), PATH (here and here), Pathfinder (here and here), Population Services International (here and here), ReSurge International, Seed Global Health (here and here), San Francisco Community Health Center (here and here), Stanford (here and here), UC Berkeley (here and here), UCGHI, UCSF (here and here), and UNICEF have spoken with the press or issued statements.
Find and Contact Your Representatives: U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Here is a list of key decision makers in Congress, their contact information, as well as sample language to consider.