Sen. Ossoff, Colleagues Pressuring Trump Admin to Release HIV/AIDS Prevention Funding to CDC

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is pressuring the Trump Administration to release funding for HIV/AIDS prevention to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Sen. Ossoff is leading a group of Senate colleagues in urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to approve the transfer of $2 billion in funds meant for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to the CDC.

This inquiry comes as new internal guidance by the State Department would end the transfer of PEPFAR funds to the CDC.

According to former CDC Directors, without this dedicated funding stream, more than 18 CDC outposts could close before the end of the year, reducing the ability for the agency to launch timely and sufficient global health responses to disease outbreaks.

Sen. Ossoff is joined by Senators Andy Kim (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Ed Markey (D-MA).

"The rushed abandonment of a proven and effective structure threatens to increase the risk of future global health pandemics and disease outbreaks," Sen. Ossoff and the group wrote. "Countries are struggling to maintain the programs set up by USAID and PEPFAR funding, facing more new infections and more deaths."

"We urge you to immediately rescind any guidance suggesting that State will no longer honor the transfer of $2 billion to CDC and commit to upholding this long-standing transfer that keeps Americans safe," Sen. Ossoff and the group continued.

Sen. Ossoff continues working to protect public health, the CDC, and its workforce.

This month, Sen. Ossoff slammed U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for terminating the CDC's Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) surveillance of Cyclospora cayetanensis, the parasite responsible for cyclosporiasis.

Earlier this year, Sen. Ossoff worked with Republicans and Democrats to ensure the CDC receives crucial funding to protect the American people, successfully defeating the Trump Administration's proposed 50% cut in funding for the CDC in the FY26 budget.

Last October, Sen. Ossoff led Georgia's Democratic Congressional Delegation in calling on Secretary Kennedy to answer for the chaos and disruption at the CDC that has marked his tenure, including the firings of CDC employees.

Last June, Sen. Ossoff spoke in the Appropriations Committee markup of the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education funding bill about bipartisan efforts to protect the CDC.

Also in June, Sen. Ossoff demanded answers from the Trump Administration following an NPR report that the CDC Program to prevent fentanyl overdoses had been frozen.

In 2025, Sen. Ossoff and other members of Congress demanded that the Trump Administration provide answers on the reported shutdown of a critical Maternal Health data system at the CDC.

Click here to read Sen. Ossoff's full inquiry.

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