Analysis of 2026 Budget Recommendations

Please continue to check this page as further analyses and resources become available.

CDC has received $9.2B in congressional appropriations each year since 2023. Although the President’s Budget proposes slashing appropriations by over half, the House and Senate committees have a different proposal. The Senate Appropriations Committee originally proposed almost level funding ($9.15B), and the House proposed a 19% cut ($7.5B, the majority of which comes from cutting HIV/AIDS prevention, global health, and chronic disease prevention). On January 20, 2026, the committees released a combined recommendation, which includes mostly level funding for CDC. 

Congress didn't include any money for AHA in the latest HHS funding bill. Staffers on committees with jurisdiction over HHS tell NPR there have not even been meetings with Kennedy's staff to “help secure support for new funding or authorization to stand up the new agency in the future,” and that “lack of engagement with Congress… also shows in Kennedy's disregard for lawmakers' intent when he eliminated staff and programs during the DOGE-fueled firings in April 2025.”

However, HHS has been using all available loopholes to make AHA happen and follow the President’s Budget against the will of Congress, including:

• Not posting any fiscal year (FY) 2026 grant funding announcements for chronic, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, STDs, or tuberculosis prevention

• Halting the flow of funds and disrupting normal funding cycles for programs slated for cuts in AHA plans

• Firing entire subprograms within programs slated for elimination, even though Congress is likely to fund these