As you may have seen, earlier this week, the final fiscal year (FY) 2026 minibus appropriations bill was released. This conference agreement has been agreed to by both House and Senate appropriators and includes three bills: Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services (which funds most health-related programs) and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development). The House passed this agreement yesterday.

Bottom line up front: This conference agreement rejects most of President Trump’s deep cuts for LHHS funding and provides level programmatic funding for STI funding at CDC. It also continues funding for the Ending the Epidemic Funding (EHE), and level-funded Ryan White funding at HRSA.  Additionally, there is language included in the bill to direct the Administration to spending the funding as Congress appropriated it, and there is no language supporting the creation of the Administration for Health America (AHA).

Department of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) FY’26 Final Conference agreement: The final conference agreement was released on January 20. The text and statement bill text and Joint Explanatory Statement (JES) and the bill summary can be found here. For the Department of HHS, the agreement provides $116.5 billion, a decrease of $100 million below the FY’25 continuing resolution rate. The agreement rejects many of the budget proposals requested by the Administration including a reduction of $1.7 billion for HIV programs; a block-grant for hepatitis, STI, and TB funding; major restructuring at the CDC, HRSA, NIH and SAMSHA; and the establishment of the Administration for a Healthy America.

While this agreement does include an STI funding level that is $10 million less that last year’s, the bill includes language (pasted below) makes it clear that this is not intended to be a funding cut; the FY26 conference agreement does not included $10 million to move the STD PCHD grant year forward by one month, as previous years funding bills has included.

This chart provides a breakout of the FY’26 conference agreement compared with the FY’25 CR rate of operation. 

Explanatory Statement Language and Bill Language Provisions: In order ensure that the Administration adheres to the language in the House and Senate reports, the conferees included specific explanatory statement and bill language to ensure that the agencies comply with the language directives.

Explanatory Statement: The explanatory statement includes a statement that references the language directives in House Report 119-271 and Senate Report 119-55 and states that unless the language in these reports is overturned in the explanatory statement, the agencies should comply with the language directives.

Bill language (Sec. 236 of the bill text): Requires HHS to spend the funds for budget activities and funding as specified in the table under each heading in the explanatory statement. This provision specifically includes the line-item funding for the ‘‘HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Tuberculosis Prevention.”

House and Senate Report Language Directives:

Sexually Transmitted Infections [STIs].—The Senate included $164,310,000, which will allow the program to operate at the same funding level and grant year as provided in FY’25. The agreement does not include $10,000,000 to advance the grant forward by one month. The Committee is concerned by the high rates of sexually transmitted infections in the United States, particularly the increase in syphilis and congenital syphilis. The Committee includes funding to combat and prevent the high incidence of STIs. The Committee directs CDC to work with other agencies, as appropriate, to develop innovative approaches including the use of telehealth platforms and at home specimen collection to increase screening, treatment, and education to curb the spread of STIs in vulnerable populations.