{"id":9016,"date":"2021-01-15T18:13:46","date_gmt":"2021-01-15T18:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=150801"},"modified":"2021-01-15T18:13:46","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T18:13:46","slug":"trump-accused-of-trying-to-inflict-as-much-harm-as-possible-with-billions-in-global-health-funding-cuts-during-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/15\/trump-accused-of-trying-to-inflict-as-much-harm-as-possible-with-billions-in-global-health-funding-cuts-during-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Accused of Trying to ‘Inflict as Much Harm as Possible’ With Billions in Global Health Funding Cuts During Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With less than a week left in the White House, President Donald Trump on Thursday presented Congress with more than $27 billion<\/a> in proposed funding cuts to an array of domestic and foreign aid programs, including $4 billion from an initiative helping to distribute coronavirus vaccine doses in poor nations that have struggled to inoculate their populations due to hoarding by rich countries<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The American Prospect<\/em>‘s David Dayen reported<\/a> Friday that the “largest cut” in Trump’s rescission proposal, which Congress is not required to act on, “would cancel $5.1 billion for Global Health Programs, in the middle of a pandemic.”<\/p>\n

“Represents the latest in the Trump administration’s attempts to sabotage the incoming president, in ways large and small, on his way out the door.” 
\u2014David Dayen, The American Prospect<\/em><\/p>\n

“The program ‘funds activities related to child and maternal health, HIV\/AIDS, and infectious diseases<\/em>‘ (emphasis mine),” Dayen noted. “Specifically, $4 billion in cuts would defund the GAVI program, which concerns itself with vaccinations in the developing world, including the Covid vaccine<\/a>. That’s combined with a $2.1 billion cut to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), an enormously successful effort<\/a> to curb HIV\/AIDS infections and deaths in the developing world.”<\/p>\n

In a letter<\/a> to congressional leaders, the Trump administration attempts to justify the requested cuts on the grounds that assisting international Covid-19 vaccination campaigns detracts from efforts to inoculate the U.S. population\u2014an argument critics say presents a “false choice<\/a>” that needlessly pits people against each other and undermines the fight against a virus that has spanned the globe.<\/p>\n

Dayen argued that the outgoing president’s last-minute proposed rescission of funding approved in the omnibus spending bill he reluctantly signed into law<\/a> last month “represents the latest in the Trump administration’s attempts to sabotage the incoming president, in ways large and small, on his way out the door.”<\/p>\n

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“This one is easily countermanded, but only if the Biden administration takes action quickly,” Dayen wrote. “Otherwise, $27.4 billion in spending, including the above-mentioned items, will be held up for the first month and a half of the Biden presidency.”<\/p>\n

In total, Trump proposed funding cuts for more than 70 programs, including, as Politico<\/em> reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n