The House Appropriations Committee voted to advance a bill that would provide $108 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget in FY 2026, a 6% or $7 billion cut from FY 2025.

But: That cut falls well below the $31.3 billion cut that the Trump administration proposed in May.

The details:

Mental health and addiction: The bill would increase funding for the mental health and substance use block grants, but, in line with Trump’s budget proposal, it would consolidate funding for STIs, infectious diseases including tuberculosis, and the opioid epidemic. The bill would defund the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking. A committee press release claims the bill prioritizes substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery, while prohibiting taxpayer funds from going to harm reduction activities “that encourage continued use of illicit controlled substances.” It also says the bill streamlines “duplicative behavioral health programs focused on criminal and juvenile justice programs and homelessness prevention.”
Make America Healthy Again (MAHA): The bill does not include HHS Secretary Kennedy’s proposed Administration for a Healthy America that would have consolidated several agencies, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It would provide $100 million for Kennedy’s MAHA initiative to address chronic disease.
NIH: The House’s proposal would maintain funding for the National Institutes of Health at about the same level as this year and retain all 27 NIH institutes and centers, including level funding for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Institute of Mental Health. It ignores the White House’s proposals to cut the agency’s budget by 40% and consolidate/eliminate institutes.
CDC: The bill would reduce Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding by nearly a fifth. That includes “streamlining 35 duplicative and controversial programs” and providing no funding for CDC’s HIV prevention program. Consistent with Trump’s proposal, the bill would increase funding for CDC’s infectious disease capacities by 2%.
Other cuts: The bill would reduce funding for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). It would eliminate funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

What’s coming: The bill now goes to the full House for a floor vote. The House and Senate will then have to reconcile their versions, with the goal of passing funding bills before the government shutdown deadline at the end of the month.