When we were waiting for the One Big Beautiful Bill to pass, we were looking forward to cuts. Cutting 1,300 liberal activists from the State Department was a good start, and we're looking forward to massive cuts from the Department of Education.
We were also thrilled with the dismantling of the Democratic slush fund known as USAID, whose dissolution had already killed 300,00 people (according to U2 singer Bono) and was on track to kill 14 million, according to a study published in The Lancet.
So it's disappointing to hear that the White House has reportedly made an exception for a program to fight AIDS globally. PREPFAR — the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief — has "invested" $100 billion since its founding in 2003, announced in 2023 a five-year strategy: "Fulfilling America’s Promise to End the HIV/AIDS Pandemic by 2030."
The Hill reports:
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought told reporters after meeting with Senate Republicans Tuesday that the White House is on board with a substitute amendment to the rescissions package that would exempt PEPFAR, the global anti-AIDS initiative from cuts.
Vought said that the president could accept the substitute amendment to exempt the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an initiative George W. Bush launched in 2003, from rescissions.
Bonus ridiculousness from the same story:
The White House budget director said he’s also working with senator who have tribes in their states” who are concerned about cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that could affect radio stations on tribal lands.
PBS and NPR defunded; Native Americans hardest hit.
We can think of ways to prevent the spread of AIDS without spending a single cent.
Reuters ran a story last month about four gay men in Africa who said they tested positive for HIV since President Trump ordered cuts to a program that funded deliveries of a PrEP drug that curbed sexual transmission of the virus.
According to The Hill, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski were concerned over the proposed cut to PEPFAR, which is now likely to be dropped from the bill. Of course, it's those two.