PEPFAR, U.S. global HIV/AIDS program, survives Trump's cuts

Popular global HIV/AIDS program PEPFAR has been spared as Congress passes a package with billions of dollars in spending cuts for Trump to sign into law.

WASHINGTON — PEPFAR, the popular global HIV/AIDS program credited with saving millions of lives, has been spared from a package of billions of dollars in spending cuts that Congress sent to President Donald Trump early Friday morning to sign into law.

The original rescissions package Trump requested called for $400 million in cuts to PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which George W. Bush started in 2003.

But in the Senate, Democrats and a handful of Republicans objected to the PEPFAR cuts. Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the health program had saved an estimated 26 million lives and allowed nearly 8 million babies to be born healthy to mothers living with HIV.

"There are some cuts that I can support, but I’m not going to vote to cut global health programs," Collins told reporters last week.

Seeking to tamp down the GOP rebellion, the White House this week agreed to make changes to the package, dropping the PEPFAR cuts to secure GOP votes.