{"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":"
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.” “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 “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
\u2014David Dayen, The American Prospect<\/em><\/p>\n\n