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As quoted in an interview:

Chomsky described the Trump administration’s approach to the problem as “surreal.”

“So in February, the pandemic is already raging. Everyone outside the United States recognizes it … Right in the middle of February, Trump comes out with his new budget for the next year. It’s worth taking a close look at it. Further cuts for the Center for Disease Control and other health-related parts of the government, to cut them further in the midst of a pandemic. [...]”

Is this true as stated, and were the proposed cuts significant to make the statement more than just nominally correct?

Community
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Fizz
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  • When we hear about cuts to this or that agency they are usually not a cut to the budget itself but a reduced increase to the budget. So, the overall budget is not cut. It is increased but by a lesser amount than usual. – tj mclaughlin May 12 '20 at 21:20

1 Answers1

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The Trump budget in February proposed a 10% cut to Health and Human Services and specifically a 16% cut to the CDC (which is part of the HHS). From the Washington Post:

The 2021 budget request delivered Monday to Congress includes a nearly 10 percent cut to Health and Human Services

and

The budget request would trim funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by almost 16 percent. HHS officials said they want the CDC to focus on its core mission of preventing and controlling infectious diseases and on other emerging public health issues, such as opioid abuse.

Edit:

However, the budget was not passed into law.

al0
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    Yes, it's somewhat usual (since 2018) for Congress to grant more money to NIH etc. than requested by the presidency https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/49948/is-there-a-detailed-comparison-of-what-the-white-house-requested-and-what-cong – Fizz May 09 '20 at 16:45
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    "the budget was not signed into law by Congress." — Congress doesn't sign anything into law. Do you mean that the budget wasn't approved by Congress or that it wasn't signed by the President? – jwodder May 09 '20 at 20:10
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    Usually, the president presents a budget, and then Congress does its own thing which only vaguely resembles that budget. – GEdgar May 09 '20 at 20:19
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    @jwodder Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, I meant the former. I edited to note it's not law. – al0 May 09 '20 at 23:46
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    Nonetheless, a proposed budget represents what the President thinks is an appropriate budget. – DJClayworth May 10 '20 at 13:36
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    so, yes. Whether or not the congress followed is beyond the scope of the question – njzk2 May 10 '20 at 20:03
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    For context, HHS is frequently a target the of budget cuts, but in the end is never actually cut. ["But every year, the Obama administration proposes to cut that money from the Department of Health and Human Services, and every year, Congress insists that the funds stay in place."](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/02/president-obama-federal-budget-cuts/385090/) It's a bit of sacred cow chicken in the hopeless game for a balanced budget. – Paul Draper May 11 '20 at 22:48