White House Asks for $15.8B HHS Cut — Congress Already Said No Once

The White House wants to cut $15.8 billion from HHS in FY2027. That’s a 12.5% reduction from what Congress approved for this year — and a much more modest ask than the $33.3 billion, 26.2% slash it floated last year that lawmakers flatly rejected.

Congress held the line at $125.8 billion for FY2026. The administration is back with a smaller number and the same underlying agenda.

The centerpiece is still the Administration for a Healthy America. The proposed consolidation of CDC, HRSA and SAMHSA programs, the White House says, would save $5 billion by eliminating what it calls DEI-aligned and ideologically opposed spending. Congress didn’t fund the AHA last year either. About 18,000 HHS positions have already been cut while this fight plays out.

NIH takes a $5 billion hit under the proposal, with three institutes on the chopping block. The targets: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Fogarty International Center and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. The administration has already been terminating and freezing thousands of NIH grants where it has authority to act unilaterally — the budget request is the formal ask for more.

The ask dropped from $33.3 billion to $15.8 billion. But the cuts haven’t waited for Congress. Congress blocked the big swing.

Congress must pass FY2027 appropriations before October 1, 2026.

— Sarah Chen