Two senior House Democrats, including the first out gay immigrant member of Congress, are demanding records and explanations from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following what they describe as a politically driven dismantling of HIV prevention, treatment, and research programs under the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.
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In a Thursday letter to Kennedy, Rep. Robert Garcia, ranking member of the powerful House Oversight Committee and representing California, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, ranking member of the Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services and representing Illinois, accused HHS of systematically abandoning decades of bipartisan progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS in both domestic and global contexts.
The lawmakers said the cuts appear driven by conspiracy theories and misinformation, including Kennedy’s previous false claim that HIV does not cause AIDS. Kennedy has claimed that the AIDS crisis was caused by poppers and a “gay lifestyle,” falsely asserting that the virus was not infectious and instead “environmental.” He has also likened transgender youth to chemically altered frogs, repeating debunked claims that environmental toxins are “forcibly feminizing” boys.
Related: Poppers Cause AIDS, the Environment Makes Boys Trans, Says Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Under Kennedy’s leadership, HHS eliminated the CDC’s HIV prevention division, cancelled a $258 million NIH vaccine initiative, and terminated dozens of research grants, including those focused on prevention among Black and Latino gay men. Providers, the letter states, were left in limbo when HHS failed to notify state and local health departments about grant statuses.
“These disruptions would threaten Americans most at risk of contracting HIV,” Garcia and Krishnamoorthi wrote. “This decision is absolutely reckless and puts millions of lives at risk,” Garcia added in a statement, emphasizing the severity of the impact. “Oversight Democrats refuse to let Secretary Kennedy’s reliance on conspiracy theories and misinformation threaten public health. We will fight back against every attack.”
Related: Trump admin moves to end federal HIV prevention programs. ‘Catastrophic’ consequences, experts say
Krishnamoorthi echoed the urgency, calling the rollback “scientifically indefensible—it’s morally unconscionable,” and warned the United States is reversing decades of bipartisan gains in HIV and AIDS prevention and care. The letter also addresses the administration’s January pause on all foreign aid, including funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. While Congress later protected PEPFAR funding amid bipartisan concern, the lawmakers warn that broader global programs remain at risk, with the potential to cause over 100,000 HIV-related deaths in sub‑Saharan Africa in a single year.
The letter warns that the budget’s proposed $1.5 billion cut to domestic HIV programs could result in more than 143,000 new HIV cases and 127,000 deaths within five years. It further expresses concern that funding decisions, which also threaten access to newly approved injectable treatments like lenacapavir, are being made without a clear evaluation of equity or scientific integrity.
“This was our chance to take HIV prevention to a whole new level, and instead we’re hitting the brakes,” Yale researcher Jirair Ratevosian previously told The Advocate. “This isn’t just bad policy, it’s a direct threat to public health.”
Garcia and Krishnamoorthi have requested all records and communications about the cuts from HHS by July 31. The department did not respond to The Advocate’s request for comment.
