President Trump Proposes Cuts to HHS Funding in 2027 Budget

The Trump administration released its discretionary budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2027 on April 3, outlining proposed reductions across several public health agencies. While Congress is unlikely to adopt the proposal in its current form, the request signals the administration’s priorities for the coming year.

The proposal includes $111.1 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, a 12.5% reduction from the FY 2026 enacted level. It also proposes funding reductions and structural changes across several agencies:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH): A $5 billion reduction, with total funding proposed at $41 billion. The budget would eliminate the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Fogarty International Center, and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) would see a $555 million decrease from FY 2026 levels.
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): A $129 million reduction. The administration proposes eliminating most of the agency’s current operations and transferring select statistical functions to a new HHS Office of Strategy.
• Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR): A $356 million reduction. Remaining funding would support medical countermeasure development, maintenance of the Strategic National Stockpile and domestic pharmaceutical resilience. The proposal would eliminate the Hospital Preparedness Program ($240 million), with related activities shifting to CDC’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program.
• Administration for a Healthy America: Similar to the FY 2026 budget request, the FY 2027 budget proposes to establish an Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), which would consolidate programs currently housed within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Global health funding: The budget request eliminates funding for the World Health Organization following the U.S. withdrawal in January. It further eliminates funding for the Pan-American Health Organization.

Additionally, the Trump administration’s budget includes the following requests:

• Food and Drug Administration: The administration proposes $7.2 billion in funding for 2027, which is a 3.3% increase over the 2026-enacted level. This increase includes $3.3 billion in discretionary funding and $3.9 billion in user fee authority.  The budget requests $574 million for the Biologics Program, which represents a decrease of approximately $27 million from the 2026 enacted levels. In justification materials for appropriations committees, the agency proposes to establish a new regulatory pathway for certain phase 1 clinical trials where there is existing preclinical data that can potentially satisfy the regulatory standard with validated new approach methodologies. FDA also proposes to permanently authorize the Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher Program.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): An approximately $475 million reduction in program-level funding (about $484 million in budget authority). The budget proposes to reduce funding for activities related to vector-borne diseases and eliminates funding for activities related to prion diseases. It increases funding related to emerging infectious diseases programs.
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):  A reduction of approximately $437 million in discretionary funding. Total CMS spending would still increase due to growth in mandatory programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The agency outlined modernizing and streamlining internal and external business operations as priorities for 2027.

Additional information is available in the HHS Budget in Brief and in the budget justifications prepared for each agency.