Sent on behalf of ANA CEO, Angela Beddoe.
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Dear Colleagues,
President Trump sent his proposed budget to Congress today and it includes massive, proposed cuts in general, and continued restructuring within the federal healthcare infrastructure.
While the president's budget is typically more of a political vision statement than an actual funding roadmap, the lack of willingness so far of the Republican Majority in Congress to push back on any Administration initiatives this year makes the budget more concerning than in previous years.
ANA is already directly engaged with Congressional leaders on both sides of the Congressional aisle. We wanted to make you aware of the scope of the proposed cuts now. Additional analysis will be conducted by our team as we develop a targeted advocacy plan, which will defend and advance the nursing and public health infrastructure, will be forthcoming.
There are many initial analyses of the president's budget but below is a strong visual representation prepared by ANA's consultant, Sheila Madhani.
Initial Analysis:
President Trump Releases FY 2026 Budget Request
President Trump released his fiscal year https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F05%2FFiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf&data=05%7C02%7Cnicole.demers%40aaacn.org%7C62537bb0f42f488c17a908dd8a31bde3%7C92e90195ea884986ab8b91bb944a470d%7C0%7C0%7C638818668484983535%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=aVra6WYAGhbFyBBXya%2BpM2AWE1S0P0aNqIKa1XjC%2BrE%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="7">(FY) 2026 Budget Request today, May 2. He proposes funding reductions to programs across the federal government, totaling $163 billion in cuts to non-defense programs. The budget proposal calls for the elimination of certain agencies as well as significant cuts in other programs. The level of cuts is beyond what is typical. The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05/02/us/trump-budget-2026. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Flive%2F2025%2F05%2F02%2Fus%2Ftrump-budget-2026&data=05%7C02%7Cnicole.demers%40aaacn.org%7C62537bb0f42f488c17a908dd8a31bde3%7C92e90195ea884986ab8b91bb944a470d%7C0%7C0%7C638818668485006507%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RmuoI6hAs8HtoDdvqfDZhnqmYrG3z43vcX5X14BD5No%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="8">reported, "The budget would cut nondefense programs to their lowest level in the modern era (these records only go back to the 1960s)."
Nondefense discretionary spending represents the portion of federal money that must be reauthorized each year and includes funding for areas such as education, transportation, and public health. It doesn't include Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, or defense spending.
For defense spending, the President proposes an increase of 13% to $961.6 billion for FY 2026; for homeland security, there is a proposal of $107 billion, representing an increase from 64.9% of the FY 2025 enacted budget. (Source: Table 2 from President's FY 2026 Budget Proposal)
Healthcare Highlights
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget proposal calls for funding the new Make America Health Again (MAHA) Commission, but it also calls for significant cuts to the National Institutes of Health and other HHS initiatives and programs.
Proposed 2026 Discretionary Request by Discretionary Category
(Budget authority in billions of dollars)
|
Agency
|
2025 Enacted
|
2026 Request
|
2026 Request Less than 2025 Enacted
|
|
Dollar
|
Percent
|
|
HHS
|
$127.0
|
$93.8
|
-$33.3
|
-26.2%
|
(Source: Excerpt from Table 1 of FY 2026 President's Budget Proposal)
The table below summarizes highlights from the budget proposal for HHS.
|
CATEGORY
|
$ CHANGE
FROM 2025 ENACTED
(in millions)
|
DESCRIPTION
|
|
MAHA Commission
|
+$500
|
The Commission's focus is on nutrition, physical activity, healthy lifestyles, over-reliance on medication and treatments, the effects of new technological habits, environmental impacts, and food and drug quality and safety across HHS.
|
|
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Program Management
|
-$674
|
Programs targeted for cuts include DEI and support contracts, health equity-focused activities and Inflation Reduction Act-related outreach and education activities.
|
|
National Institute of Health (NIH)
|
-$17,965
|
Proposes consolidating programs into five focus areas:
- National Institute on Body Systems Research;
- National Institute on Neuroscience and Brain Research;
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences;
- National Institute of Disability Related Research; and
- National Institute on Behavioral Health.
Proposes eliminating funding for:
- National Institute on Minority and Health Disparities (-$534 million);
- Fogarty International Center (-$95 million);
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (-$170 million); and
- National Institute of Nursing Research (-$198 million).
|
|
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Programs
|
$-3,588
|
For CDC the budget proposal includes consolidation of grant programs and elimination of DEI programs.
It also proposes eliminating funding for:
- National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion;
- National Center for Environmental Health;
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control;
- Global Health Center;
- Public Health Preparedness and Response; and the
- Preventive Health and Human Services Block Grant.
Proposed budget changes also impact surveillance of emerging and infectious diseases.
|
Other HHS proposed budget cuts in comparison to the enacted FY 2025 budget include:
- Deducts $1.73 billion from the Health Resources and Services Administration;
- Deduct $1.07 billion from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration;
- Deducts $129 million from the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality;
- Deducts $240 million from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Hospital Preparedness Program; and
- Deducts $180 million from the new Administration for a Healthy America-Sexual Risk Avoidance Program and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, HHS Office on Women's Health, HHS Office of Minority Health.
Outside of HHS, the budget proposal adds $5.4 billion to the Department of Veterans Affairs for medical care and electronic health record modernization.
The proposals reflect the Administration's priorities to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, eliminate spending on addressing climate change and other clean energy goals, and reduce spending on research and grants, which the President views as wasteful. They also reflect his prioritization of the military and homeland security.
While the President's budget proposal is typically viewed as more of a visionary reflection of his priorities, the Republican-led Congress has been acquiescing to his demands so that this budget proposal could carry more weight than others have from past presidents. The White House and Congressional Republicans must reach some consensus before September 30 to avoid a government shutdown. This budget proposal could also signal future actions for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
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Barbara Opatick
Operations Coordinator
Office of the Chief Nursing Officer / EVP
American Nurses Association
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 400
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301.628.5015
barbara.opatick@ana.org
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Nicole DeMers
Association and Board Services Manager
AAACN
Pitman, NJ
856.256.2359
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