Latest news on US crisis (3 July): legal challenges, Global Fund, WHO, Kigali conference
5 July 2025. Related: Treatment access, Activism & advocacy.
Paul Clift for CHANGE and EATG
The following notes are based on the weekly activist webinar organised by the CHANGE network on 3 July 2025.
US challenges and government policy news
Most of this week’s CHANGE meeting – about three-quarters of it – was devoted to legal updates. This presented a very detailed summary of the US legal processes so far.
I am not going into any detail on this because US-specific law and legal process lies so far outside our European focus. That said, it is of most urgent interest and relevance to our US comrades, and it is clear that US advocates are well engaged with the whole landscape of legal challenges to US Govt orders etc.
Nevertheless, you might be interested to see the judicial findings of Judge Young of the US District Court, District of Massachusetts, in the case of American Public Health Association and others vs NIH and US Dept of Health and Human Services. From the introduction:
“Based upon the evidence presented at the hearing… this Court concludes what has been occurring at the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) with respect to its disruption of grants, the grant making process and the pipeline of future scientists by forbidding by fiat certain topics, is on this Administrative Record, illegal under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”).
Unfortunately, the current administration has a record of ignoring ‘inconvenient’ court findings. It’s also becoming clear that the US Govt has a plan to counter challenges to their actions.
Trump’s tax and spending bill passes Congress
“The bill’s centerpiece is a permanent extension of tax cuts made in 2017, during Trump’s first term, as well as the creation of new, temporary exemptions for tips, overtime pay and car loan interest that the president promised voters during last year’s campaign.
The government will lose trillions of dollars in revenue from those provisions, and to offset their costs, Republicans approved an array of cuts to Medicaid, the federal program providing health insurance coverage to poor and disabled Americans…”
Guardian article: Trump’s tax-and-spending bill passes Congress in major win for president.
This article explains that this bill – Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill or OBBB – makes huge cuts to taxes, especially for the better-off, which necessitates spending cuts to a range of public services. Resulting changes to Medicaid ‘could cost as many as 11.8 million people their healthcare’ (some estimates from other sources put this figure even higher – 17 million was mentioned in the CHANGE meeting, but without references).
The biggest expenditure gain appears to be Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which sees “$45bn for ICE detention facilities, $14bn for deportation operations and billions of dollars more to hire 10,000 new agents by 2029. An additional $50bn will go towards the border wall and other fortifications.”
Rescission
The rescission package presented to Congress has cuts to PEPFAR etc ‘that will kill people’. As noted last week, this rescission package and process is part of the US Govt’s process of transferring maximum powers to the Executive.
The rescission vote is on July 14th – US advocates have expressed fears that the vote might be lost and the rescission package will go through.
2. Stand Up For Aid Situation Report #14
The latest situation report produced by the USAID Alumni Association (UAA) is now available.
“We provide updates on the USAID realignment to State, bipartisan support on the Hill for the continuation of international assistance, and the uncertainty for USAID partners moving forward.”
This excellent and intensive 20-page report includes the status of USAID programmes with half of the report comprehensively covering media clips and news.
Stand Up for Aid Situation Report #14.
Listing of all significant news reports.
3. Global Fund update
GF has started the process of funding deallocation. Letters went out on Monday 30 June announcing funding adjustments – funding cuts – by country.
4. Changes at WHO
WHO Chief Names New Team of Directors – Mostly Familiar Faces.
This is the latest phase of WHO’s reorganisation following a crisis triggered by the withdrawal of the United States, WHO’s biggest donor, in January 2025, and its abrogation of dues payments, even for the 2024 year.
In the wake of the US exit, WHO member states slashed WHO’s projected 2026-27 base budget by over 20%, yet it remains about $1.65 billion underfunded. In May, World Health Assembly members also agreed to a 20% increase in assessed fees for member states, handing a lifeline to WHO’s operations. Still, WHO is faced with a need to reduce overall staff costs by 20-25%.
Tereza Kasaeva, former head of WHO’s TB department, has been named director of the newly combined WHO Department of HIV, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis, and Sexually Transmitted Infections.
5. TB Community Coordination Hub Call
(15 July 2025 14:00 CET).
Dr. Lucica Ditiu (ED of Stop TB Partnership) will join this call to share information about their updated scope of work (SOW) with the US, staff cuts, and more. This will also be an opportunity for you to ask questions and share experiences or calls to action.
6. Upcoming IAS conference in Kigali
Advocates going to IAS Kigali are urged to connect with attendees from WHO and other relevant organisations to advocate for the strongest possible funding of services etc.
This is an chance to seek out allies and make the most of every opportunity for advocacy.
A sign-on petition addressed to world leaders has been posted online.