Department of Health cuts $11.4 billion in Coronavirus relief funds

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the cut of $11.4 billion in Coronavirus pandemic response funds. This money was being sent to state health departments, non-governmental organizations and various international recipients.

Specifically, the cuts come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the agency that until now was responsible for distributing these funds. President Donald Trump recently announced his pick to head the agency, Susan Monarez.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," HHS communications director Andrew Nixon said of the pandemic.

"HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again," the official added.

As reported from NBC News, the cut notices for the different agencies that until now benefited from the funds began on Monday. In turn, they will have 30 days to adjust their spending to the CDC cut. As for the methodology of the cuts, the cited media outlet specified that Robert Kennedy Jr. officials began evaluating all ongoing programs to determine their necessity.

"Now that the pandemic is over, the grants and cooperative agreements are no longer necessary as their limited purpose has run out," read the notices sent.

According to the  Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) website, HHS recently canceled an $877 million budget line item in grants to the Texas Department of Health and a $482 million budget line item to the Florida Department of Health.