CONTACT: Kendall Martinez-Wright
Kendall.Martinez.Wright@treatmentactiongroup.org

July 24, 2025 — The Trump Administration plan to end PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) was leaked yesterday to the New York Times, which had damning information about Secretary Rubio proposing a swift end to the program. This news also shows the complete disregard of the actions done by Congress which last week in the rescission bill rejected the almost $400 million cut that the administration originally proposed in the FY 25 budget and furthermore flying in the face of the recent House appropriations bill which restored PEPFAR funding for FY 2026 to the 2025 level of $4.725 billion, equivalent to the FY 2025 Continuing Resolution and $1.85 billion over the President’s request of just $2.9 billion.

This Administration has consistently shown its inhumane efforts and influence of politicizing unilateral programs by eradicating USAID, eliminating support for HIV prevention, including PrEP, both internationally and domestically, and – from its very first day in office — interrupting the provision of life-saving HIV therapy to millions of people living with HIV around the world  Additionally, Congress holds the “power of the purse” meaning that all budgets  shall be determined by the legislative branch, not the Administration. We know that this is part of their goal of eradicating this successful and bipartisan program which saved over 20 million persons from HIV and prevented millions of new HIV infections.

We know that this potential move of rushing to end this program would make it impossible to achieve the global goal  of ending HIV as an epidemic by 2030 and furthermore, will kill millions of vulnerable individuals. We urge our allies, supporters, and community members to act by calling their Representatives and Senators and tell them to not only keep this PEPFAR going but to also continue to support and fund this critically lifesaving program. You can do this by calling the Congressional Switchboard (202) 224 3121. Thank you and let’s fight to keep PEPFAR!