After Year Of Disastrous Policies, As American Families Face Higher Costs & Increasing Instability, Leader Schumer Launches Watchdog Investigation Into How Trump Admin Is[...]

In New Initiative, Schumer Compels Government Watchdog To Investigate The Disastrous Impact Of The Trump Administration's Domestic And Global Health Cuts

Schumer: America-First Health Strategy Costs American Lives & Leaves American Pocketbooks Empty

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) initiated a new government watchdog investigation into the Trump administration's domestic and global health cuts and how they will drive up costs for American families and increase the risk of infectious disease.

Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer formally started an investigation into the Trump administration's domestic and global health cuts by directing the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan government watchdog, to audit how they will increase the risk of infectious disease across America, raise costs for American families, and overburden the health care system.

"In his first year, President Trump has taken a sledgehammer to the resiliency of health systems at home and abroad. And as a result - he is costing American lives and emptying Americans' pocketbooks," said Leader Schumer. "We need to get all of the facts - how much are Americans hurting as a result of Trump's policies? How many lives will be lost? How much are these disastrous policies costing Americans? Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and we cannot continue to let this administration operate in the shadows. Senate Democrats will continue to provide oversight into the real price of a Trump administration."

Domestically, the administration cut $1 trillion from the healthcare system through significant cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as disrupted critical services provided by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through indiscriminate firings, grant cancellations, and dangerous program cuts, including reckless cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Globally, the administration's dismantlement of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other steep cuts to foreign assistance have debilitated health systems around the world - our first line of defense against infectious diseases that will spread to the U.S. Moreover, the administration formally withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO), a dangerous move that will diminish the U.S.' ability to track diseases spreading around the world and, inevitably, to the U.S. mainland. This comes at a time when Americans have less access to health care due to skyrocketing costs and are at a higher risk of deadly infectious diseases due to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine campaign. Together, these factors set up a powder keg for another deadly epidemic and catastrophic high health care costs for Americans.

"Democrats will continue to fight for Americans' access to affordable healthcare and their freedom to live free of dangerous epidemics like the COVID-19 pandemic and use every tool on the table to expose the damage the Trump administration is doing," Schumer continued.

Leader Schumer's investigation will have GAO consider six main questions:

1. The increased risk of infectious disease (including measles, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS) facing the American people, and, specifically, New Yorkers, as a result of the Trump administration's dismantlement of infectious disease prevention efforts.
2. The increased cost burden that increased infectious disease risk during this administration may pose to the American health care system.
3. The increased cost burden that the American taxpayer will face because of increased infectious disease spread, both for people with health insurance and without.
4. The increased cost burden to the American taxpayer for the U.S. to solely track the spread of infectious disease across the world rather than rely on WHO collaboration.
5. The estimated differences in cost to the American taxpayer between the U.S. engaging in a response effort to a global pandemic such as COVID-19 as opposed to continuing to fund pandemic prevention efforts abroad.
6. The estimate of lives lost because of lower vaccine access and uptake domestically and globally.

The text of the letter can be seen here and below.

***

Dear Mr. Brown,

I write to you with deep concern for the security and health of millions of Americans. The Trump administration has dismantled decades of American leadership in global health, advancements in U.S. medical innovation and research, and reductions in infectious diseases. In just one year, we have already seen the devastating impact that cuts to both domestic and global health programs have had on the spread of infectious diseases, exemplified by the rapid spread of measles throughout the U.S., impacts which will disproportionately impact New Yorkers who have historically been at the forefront of public health crises. It is increasingly apparent that what the administration claims is an "America First Global Health Strategy" undermines Americans' pocketbooks and lives.

Domestically, the administration has significantly destabilized the U.S. health care system through $1 trillion in cuts, which will lead to more than 15 million Americans losing health insurance, result in hospital closures and service line cutbacks, and cause a preventable 51,000 more American deaths per year. The administration continues to wreak havoc on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through indiscriminate firings, grant cancellations, and dangerous program cuts, especially at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC has been pressured to adopt and endorse the anti-vaccine agenda of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., sparking more vaccine hesitancy throughout the U.S. during a time of heightened infectious disease outbreaks and insufficient federal response. The politicization of federal research and disease response will put millions of Americans at heightened risk to infectious disease, further burdening a health care system already suffering from H.R.1's cuts.

Globally, the administration has doubled down on its attack on global health security by officially withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other multilateral global health bodies that share critical health threat data with members, blinding the U.S. to emerging threats abroad. The administration has falsely claimed it has the capacity to continue tracking emerging threats from abroad without offering a clear explanation of how it intends to fill the gap left by the U.S. WHO withdrawal. The administration has dismantled U.S. foreign assistance efforts including those previously supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). By attacking efforts that significantly reduced the ability of infectious diseases to spread abroad, the U.S. changes will increase the risk of dangerous diseases spreading to the mainland, including HIV/AIDS tuberculosis, and polio. Strategic global health support yielded an undeniable return on our investments. The administration has delayed or ceased contributions to multilateral organizations such as GAVI, the Global Fund, UNAIDS, CEPI, and the Pandemic Fund, not only undermining their ability to fulfill their global health mandates to combat infectious diseases but also resulting in the decreased U.S. influence in these organizations. Despite continued bipartisan support for global health funding, the administration is trudging forward with undermining global health infrastructure by reorganizing assistance into new bilateral health agreements ripe with opportunities for corruption, waste, and further impoundment of U.S. congressionally mandated funds.

The administration's blunt attacks on health systems at home and globally put the entire country at risk for outbreaks that will burden a weakened system at home and abroad. In today's globalized world where international travel is a common occurrence, the next viral outbreak is only a plane ride away. New York City learned the challenges of pandemic response as the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak with over 6.5 % of the global total case load. Hospitals were overburdened, morgues overflowed, and severe shortages of personal protective equipment prevented medical professionals from protecting themselves as they tried to help those infected with COVID-19.

The risks Americans face are not hypothetical: just one year of this administration has resulted in disease cases rising for viruses that had not previously circulated in the U.S. at such high rates, including measles and influenza. The number of measles outbreaks in 2025 alone has poised the United States to lose its elimination status sometime this spring, with the most pronounced outbreaks seen in South Carolina and Texas. Additionally, this flu season has resulted in the highest incidence in over 30 years.

A thorough investigation of the impact of the Trump Administration's domestic and global health policy will help Congress understand the full scope of consequences this may have on the American people, the U.S. health care system, and American's pocketbooks. It's critical that Congress understand if the U.S. is prepared to prevent and contain another health threat and what new cost burdens the country will take on because of this administration's decisions. As such, I write to formally request that the GAO assess the following to understand the impact of the Trump administration's global and domestic health policies:

1. The increased risk of infectious disease (including measles, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS) facing the American people, and, specifically, New Yorkers, because of the Trump administration's dismantlement of infectious disease prevention efforts.
2. The increased cost burden that heightened infectious disease risk during this administration may pose to the American health care system.
3. The increased cost burden that the American taxpayer will face because of increased infectious disease spread, for both people with health insurance and without.
4. The increased cost burden to the American taxpayer for the U.S. to solely track the spread of infectious disease across the world rather than rely on WHO collaboration.
5. The estimated differences in cost to the American taxpayer between the U.S. engaging in a response effort to a global pandemic such as COVID-19 as opposed to continuing to fund pandemic prevention efforts abroad.
6. The estimate of lives lost because of lower vaccine access and uptake domestically and globally.

###