Proposed FY26 HHS budget cuts would put US health and security at risk
April 2025
Big Cities Health Coalition (BCHC) joins over 500 health and research organizations to call out how proposed cuts to Health and Human Services (HHS) would devastate the nation’s research, scientific, and public health infrastructure.
The Administration’s draft Fiscal Year 2026 budget would cut about one-third of discretionary spending at HHS.
The draft proposal would put our nation’s health and security at risk by defunding, and in some cases eliminating, vital programs that monitor and defend against infectious and chronic disease, battle opioid and mental health epidemics, protect the public against environmental and occupational health threats, reduce preventable injuries, address public health emergencies and deliver high-quality care to veterans, seniors, and other Americans.
These cuts will also seriously undermine our ability to remain a global leader in developing the next generation of treatments and cures for cancer and other diseases.
All HHS agencies have important roles to play in addressing our nation’s health demands.
Sustained investments, not budgetary cuts, are needed to protect the roles and functions within HHS in order to safeguard American’s health.
While creating an efficient and effective health care and public health system is important—cutting funding across HHS agencies will not achieve this goal. Instead, the undersigned organizations are asking that Congress work in a bipartisan, bicameral manner with the public health, health care, research, scientific and patient communities to strengthen the workings of our health agencies so they can best care for the American public.
