Trump Proposes 16% Cut To CDC As Global Number Of Coronavirus Infections And Deaths Rise

Lisette Voytko

4-5 minutes

An additional 34% reduction is proposed for overall global health programs, but Trump is asking for ... [+] $115 million to be set aside for global health security.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Topline: As the coronavirus continues to spread, President Trump’s proposed 2021 budget calls for drastic cuts to funding for the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization that critics say could prevent preparedness for a pandemic at home.

• Trump released his proposed 2021 budget Monday, which included a 16% cut to the CDC’s budget and a 10% overall reduction to the Department of Health and Human Services’ funding, according to the Washington Post.
• The U.S. contributes about 2.5% of the World Health Organization’s overall $4.8 billion budget, and Trump’s proposal calls for a $65 million cut to the group; if enacted, the U.S.’ contribution would be reduced by over 40%. 
• An additional 34% reduction is proposed for overall global health programs, but Trump is asking for $115 million to be set aside for global health security for the purpose of combating “infectious disease threats.” 
• However, the proposed budget is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, which the Post notes has the power of the purse, and will ultimately decide how the funds will be spent, after various committees weigh in.  
• The coronavirus⁠ (which was renamed Tuesday by the World Health Organization as COVID-19) has not been declared a pandemic, but the group has called for an immediate $675 million investment in “rational and evidence-based interventions” to stop the outbreak.
• As of Monday, the U.S. has 12 confirmed cases, with one patient erroneously diagnosed as testing negative for the disease, based on a “mix-up” between the CDC and a San Diego hospital, CNN reported.

Chief critics: The Senate Budget Committee (led by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as the ranking member) said Trump’s budget would “destroy discretionary programs [by] cutting them by $1.9 trillion. These are things like Section 8, Head Start, WIC, LIHEAP, public housing, NOAA, NIH, NASA, NSF, the CDC—most of the programs that we think of when we think of what the government does.” And James Hamblin, a doctor who writes for The Atlantic, said on Twitter that the budget “doesn’t consider pandemic preparedness a matter of national security.”
What to watch for: How Trump and his administration continue to respond to coronavirus. During a Monday speech in New Hampshire, Trump said, “By April . . . when it gets a little warmer, [coronavirus] miraculously goes away,” a theory debunked by infectious disease experts. The president is a known germaphobe, and experts are concerned that Trump’s phobia, combined with his suspicions of foreigners and previous dismissals of science, could be dangerous.
Key background: Trump’s budget proposals have historically taken aim at science funding, although the 2021 proposal amps up spending for NASA⁠—to get astronauts back on the moon⁠—and to build the National Quantum Internet, which would theoretically be impossible to hack, according to the Post. Including HHS and the CDC, other programs possibly facing deep cuts include affordable housing, student loan assistance, Medicaid and food stamps. But the budget will wend its way through the Congressional Budget Office, as well as House and Senate committees and subcommittees, before any dollar amounts are approved by Congress. “Presidents’ budgets are a reflection of administration priorities, but in the end, they are just a list of suggestions,” Sen. Michael M. Enzi (R-Wyo.), who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, told the New York Times Monday. 
Tangent: WHO said the coronavirus’ new name, COVID-19, which comes from “coronavirus disease” and the year in which it was discovered, was chosen to avoid stigma based on geographical location, the name of an animal, a person or a group of people.

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