From Cancer Patients and Pregnant Women to Seniors with Alzheimer’s and Kids with Autism – Report Shows Trump’s Dismantling of HHS Isn’t Streamlining Government, It’s Risking Lives
Click here to read the new report.
Washington, D.C. — Protect Our Care is releasing a new report detailing who will be hurt by Donald Trump, RFK Jr., and Elon Musk’s massive cuts and layoffs at HHS. Rather than lowering costs or improving care, Trump and MAGA Republicans are focused on slashing essential health programs to bankroll more tax breaks for the wealthy. The report comes as the administration proposes cutting one-third of HHS’s budget, continues to freeze grant payments, and suspends FDA food safety inspections. Across the Mall, Republicans in Congress continue to pursue devastating cuts to Medicaid. Republicans are waging a full-scale attack on Americans’ health care, and the deadly consequences are only beginning to surface.
These GOP cuts aren’t ‘draining the swamp’ or making government more efficient. They are tearing apart the programs and health care Americans count on and endangering American lives. By slashing HHS, Trump and Musk are targeting women, children, people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, cancer patients, seniors with Alzheimer’s, pregnant women and infants, people of color, and more. Trump and his administration are ripping care and critical research away from the Americans who need it most. They are undermining the safety of our food and water, slashing vital programs that protect kids from lead poisoning or help prevent domestic violence, and eliminating millions of dollars in research and innovation around cancer, diabetes, children’s health, and so much more.
“These cuts are more than just chaotic and uninformed – they are dangerous and deadly,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach, Former Senior Counselor to Obama’s HHS Secretary. “Trump and RFK Jr., with the help of Elon Musk, have launched a senseless attack on the programs that keep Americans safe and healthy. These cuts target couples looking for the best IVF care, people with mental health or substance use disorders, low-income children enrolled in Head Start, and every American who’s ever worried about whether their food, drugs, or cosmetics are free of harmful chemicals. And the scary part is that we are only beginning to understand the devastating impacts these unprecedented cuts will have on public health and our health care system.”
Here’s a summary of who will be hurt:
- Women: Gutted research funding for women’s health issues and programs around reproductive health, sexual and domestic violence prevention, and maternal health
- People with disabilities: Cut Meals on Wheels and the agency helping people with disabilities live independently
- Children: Dismantled offices administering key child care programs and programs around asthma control, lead poisoning prevention, school shootings, and more
- People fighting cancer and chronic illnesses: Eliminated and delayed critical research and jeopardized critical data
- Seniors: Halted Alzheimer’s and other research and dissolved the agency responsible for supporting seniors and community living programs
- People battling addiction and mental health issues: Gutted agencies combating drug overdoses and mental illnesses, regulating tobacco, and working to improve care
- LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color: Eliminated research on health care disparities and inequity and targeted programs aimed at addressing diseases that disproportionately impact LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color