Faith groups urge White House to release funding for HIV/AIDS prevention

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Five faith-based organizations are calling on the White House to release funding for HIV/AIDS prevention abroad that Congress already appropriated.

In a letter sent to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, the groups urged full funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR); the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and Gavi.

“These funds are urgently needed now. Without them, children will die of preventable diseases, HIV+ mothers will infect their babies during childbirth, tuberculosis will spread: these are the ‘least of these’ to whom our Lord calls us to respond,” the groups wrote.

The letter was signed by Bread for the World, Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology, Mormon Women for Ethical Government, the National Association of Evangelicals and the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.

The request comes as the Trump administration has apportioned only a fraction of the $6 billion Congress approved for PEPFAR, the hallmark HIV program credited with saving 26 million lives around the world.

The groups also sent the letter to Senate appropriations leaders, urging them to “robustly” fund the same treatment and prevention programs for fiscal 2027.

The U.S. has been the largest donor to the Global Fund since its inception. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pressed by Democrats about releasing $661 million for the Global Fund when he testified last month about the administration’s budget request.

Rubio said all current funding obligations have been met and said holding back the $661 million could have been a bookkeeping issue.

“I think that will move shortly, very quickly,” Rubio said.

The White House has repeatedly refused to allocate money to programs and agencies that Congress had already appropriated, sparking several legal battles since President Trump took office.

Vought’s refusal to fully fund PEPFAR comes as the Trump administration has attempted to wind down the U.S. contributions and shift financial responsibility to other countries.

The White House’s fiscal 2027 budget request didn’t allocate a specific funding amount for PEPFAR.

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Donald Trump

Donald Trump

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HIV/AIDS

Marco Rubio

PEPFAR

Russell Vought

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