Durbin Statement On President Trump's Budget Proposal
The proposal continues President Trump’s petulant, destructive efforts to slash critical public health funding and foreign aid assistance
CHICAGO – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today released the following statement on President Trump’s abysmal budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026 that cuts funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by nearly half:
“It’s no surprise that President Trump proposed a federal budget that reflects his true priority – funding tax breaks for billionaires by betraying hard-working Americans and gutting the basic programs that keep us healthy and safe. He is eviscerating funding for school districts that serve low-income students, rental and utility bill assistance, and child care programs, while decimating medical research that cancer and Alzheimer’s patients rely on. What about this ‘makes America great again?’
“But Congress ultimately holds the power of the purse. I will fight tooth and nail to restore lifesaving funding for our federal research agencies like NIH and advocate for the foreign aid our allies need. I hope that my Republican colleagues will find the courage to stand up for their constituents and fund these critical programs, rather than bow to President Trump and his band of billionaires.”
President Trump’s proposed budget:
- Entirely eliminates the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) which helps low-income households pay critical energy bills.
- Delivers an $18 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- including by eliminating some institutes altogether – severely hampering research and development that lead to breakthroughs in cancer, Alzheimer’s, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, and countless other conditions.
- Slashes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) budget by over $3.5 billion, while entirely eliminating critical programs preventing youth smoking, suicide, childhood lead poisoning, and cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
- Guts the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) by $1.7 billion, worsening access to medical, dental, and behavioral health care for rural communities, pregnant women, and children.
- Cuts the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s (SAMHSA) budget by over $1 billion, imperiling patient access to critical treatments in the midst of an opioid epidemic, and slashing funding for youth mental health services.
- Cuts the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by $674 million, undermining the key Agency charged with ensuring access to health insurance coverage, including Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
- Delivers the first-ever $1 trillion Pentagon topline—funneling billions into wasteful nuclear weapons modernization and a so-called “Golden Dome” missile shield that represents a dangerous escalation in nuclear brinkmanship.
- Reduces the Internal Revenue Service budget by $2.5 billion below FY2025 levels. This would be a 20 percent cut to the IRS budget, which has been frozen at $12.3 billion since FY2023.
- Cuts $4.5 billion from Title 1 and K-12 funding by reducing Department of Education staff that handle Title 1 funds and consolidates 18 competitive and formula grant programs into a $2 billion formula grant, giving States more discretion with Title 1 funds.
- $27 billion in cuts to the State Rental Assistance Block Grant, which provides for Tenant-Based Rental Assistance, Public Housing, Project-Based Rental Assistance, Housing for the Elderly, and Housing for Persons with Disabilities.
- Cuts $3.3 billion from the Community Development Block Grant, which provides funds for local governments to pursue affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization services.
- $770 million cut to the Community Services Block Grant, which provide for basic needs support and poverty alleviation in local communities facing economic need.
- Guts U.S. diplomacy and global engagement with an 83 percent cut to the State Department and International Affairs budget. This includes a drastic reduction in foreign aid, slashing over $20 billion from programs that support global health, humanitarian relief, and democracy promotion.
- Cuts $15 billion in IIJA clean energy grants.
- Cuts $1.5 billion from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is tasked with monitoring, predicting, and forecasting the weather and climate.
- Nearly $1 billion in cuts to Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) programs that support tribal operations.
- Cuts $3.5 billion in basic assistance to refugees like housing, food, clothing, access to basic services; cuts another $2.6 billion in humane services to migrants that provide shelter, access to community services, and education—including to migrant farmworkers’ children.
- Eliminates the EPA’s Environmental Justice Program.
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