Today, activists from Housing Works, Health GAP, Treatment Action Group and former USAID and PEPFAR staff were arrested protesting ongoing attacks on HIV and global health programs by OMB Director Russell Vought during his appearance before the House Budget Committee.
Vought must be held accountable for his attempts to dismantle life-saving global health programs, including PEPFAR, and his blatant defiance of the will of Congress, which has fully funded PEPFAR programs for FY25 and FY26 over Vought’s objections. In addition to proposing deadly funding cuts, his FY27 budget request also disparages scientific evidence in global health, particularly regarding highly effective methods of HIV prevention, suggesting elimination of funding for condoms and programs for LGBTQ+ people, who face disproportionately high HIV risk of HIV infection due to criminalization and stigma.
Russell Vought is the architect of Project 2025 and his dismantling of these lifesaving programs are examples of the destruction wrought by the Trump Administration and their war against decades of progress in the fight against HIV worldwide.
We are demanding Trump, Vought, Rubio, and Congress:
• Fully obligate appropriated PEPFAR funds and rejection of growing political interference in global and domestic HIV programs
• Immediately release already-appropriated, unobligated PEPFAR funds
• Break the blackout on PEPFAR data, so Congress and people with HIV know how funding is being spent and can program based on data
• Reject the FY27 budget request for HIV and global health programs
• Full obligation of appropriated PEPFAR funds and rejection of growing political interference in global and domestic HIV programs.
Coverage of the action can be found here:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/15/russ-vought-budget-hearing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK54jmyihQo
