U.S. Capitol Police arrested 13 HIV/AIDS activists Thursday in the Rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building.
Activists, members of Housing Works, Health Gap, and Treatment Action Groups, along with former PEPFAR officials, called for full funding for the program, which President George W. Bush created in 2003. Before his arrest, banners were unfurled from the second floor of the Rotunda that read, “Trump and (Office of Management and Budget Director Russell) Vought have killed AIDS patients around the world,” “More than 200,000 people have died since January 2025,” and “Don’t mess with PEPFAR.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
The protests are the latest in response to the Trump-Vance administration’s HIV/AIDS policies since taking office.
On January 28, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a waiver allowing PEPFAR and other “lifesaving” programs to continue operating while nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending is frozen. HIV/AIDS service providers around the world the Washington Blade spoke to said PEPFAR cuts and the loss of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which officially closed on July 1, 2025, have severely impacted their operations.
Last September, the State Department announced that it would distribute lenacapavir to countries with high PEPFAR prevalence. Zambia is one of the countries where groundbreaking HIV prevention drugs have been introduced.
Last summer, the New York TimesreportedOf the $6 billion that Congress set aside for PEPFAR in fiscal year 2025, Vought “appropriated” only $2.9 billion (next fiscal year’s PEPFAR will use funds appropriated in fiscal year 2024).
Last July, the Trump-Vance administration withdrew a proposal to cut $400 million from PEPFAR’s budget after bipartisan opposition in the U.S. Senate. Mr. Vaught said on August 29, 2025,“Pocket Recession”Suspends $4.9 billion for HIV/AIDS prevention and global health programs and other foreign aid initiatives that Congress had already authorized.
In January, the White House announced an expansion of global gag rules barring U.S. foreign aid to groups promoting “gender ideology.” President Ronald Reagan implemented a unique regulation in 1985, also known as the “Mexico City” policy, that prohibited U.S. foreign aid to organizations that supported abortion or provided abortion-related services. The World Council for Equality and other groups argue that expanding this rule would have a negative impact on HIV prevention efforts around the world.
“More than $977 million in PEPFAR funds allocated for HIV prevention and treatment remained unspent by the end of fiscal year 2025, with triple the unspent amount at the end of fiscal year 2024,” said a press release issued Thursday by Housing and Health GAP.
“Activists predict that this backlog will worsen rapidly in fiscal year 2026 unless Congress immediately reasserts its constitutionally mandated oversight powers,” the press release states.
The press release also states that funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s PEPFAR program “will be depleted by April 1, as only 45 percent of FY26 funding has been transferred from the State Department.”
“Unless funds are immediately transferred, CDC’s global HIV programs across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean will be brought to a halt,” the press release states.
Activists called on Mr. Trump, Mr. Vought, Mr. Rubio, and Congress to:
- Activists are calling for full mandated appropriation of PEPFAR funds and a rejection of increased political interference in global and national HIV programs.
- Immediately release already appropriated and unobligated PEPFAR funds
- Breaking the PEPFAR data blackout so Congress and people living with HIV know how their money is being spent and create programs based on data.
- Activists are calling for full mandated appropriation of PEPFAR funds and a rejection of increased political interference in global and national HIV programs.
“PEPFAR has saved more than 26 million lives and changed the trajectory of the epidemic,” said Charles King, CEO of Housing Works. “However, the Trump Administration’s decision to freeze PEPFAR funding, over the objections of Congressional Republicans, undoes decades of progress and is a death sentence for people with HIV who rely on life-saving treatment. The United States must immediately restore funding to PEPFAR and restore our nation’s standing in the global fight against HIV.”
Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the activists arrested.
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
The post 13 HIV/AIDS activists arrested at Capitol appeared first on Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News.
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
