Supporters vs. denouncers of the White House’s proposed 2027 budget: Voices heard in or near healthcare circles
President Donald Trump’s 2027 budget proposal has had stakeholders bumping fists or gnashing teeth ever since its release by the White House Office of Management and Budget April 3.
The document’s most striking element is a request for $1.5 trillion for defense spending—an increase of more than 40% over 2026.
Second most striking: the juxtaposition of the above figures with the proposal’s call to cut nondefense spending 10% across the board (to $660 billion).
If the budget makes it through Congress intact as submitted—a big if even with the president’s party in the majority in both chambers—healthcare is in for some uncomfortable belt-tightening.
That’s because the proposal would cut HHS’s purse by $15.8 billion while also slashing NIH’s by $5 billion and substantially shrinking several other major healthcare allotments.
Among the broadest moves affecting healthcare outlined in the proposed budget:
- The establishment of the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) as part of a major reorganization of HHS to “prioritize programs that improve nutrition, food and drug quality and safety standards, and prevent chronic disease” and
- The refocusing of HHS on its core mission by “eliminating bloated, woke and inefficient programs that do not advance MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) goals.”
As for reactions to the budget, here’s a sampling of views from observers who lean left, those who lean right and one who identifies as libertarian.
Look to the left.
Americans want lower costs for essential healthcare at home, Republicans want more war funding abroad. People don’t react well to having our healthcare turned into a piggy bank for their war.
— Democrat Party strategist Jesse Ferguson to Politico
On the heels of the massive and historic cuts in H.R. 1 (aka the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”), President Trump is doubling down on severe cuts to healthcare. … It’s a significant assault on our health, both keeping folks healthy and the services they get when they get sick.
— Families USA executive director Anthony Wright to MedCity News
[L]ast year the Administration’s budget did not spell out the enormous cuts to SNAP and Medicaid that the President later encouraged Congress to enact. Policymakers should commit now not to adopt any further policies that take away healthcare, food assistance or other assistance from people who need it—and to reverse the damage they’ve already done.
Look to the right.
We have seen that a dollar invested doesn’t always mean we get a dollar of good science in return. NIH has what it needs. Being $39 trillion in debt after NIH’s years of failure, $41 billion—which is more than COVID levels—is actually quite generous.
— White House Office of Management and Budget communications director Rachel Cauley to Politico
CMS’s plan is to use AI to screen out unneeded services and abusive claims, but the industry wants to use it to identify underuse of care in Medicare and Medicaid, and also fees that are below their incurred costs. That information will then be used to press Congress to increase health entitlement spending rather than reduce it. In other words, the battle for program integrity and spending discipline in healthcare is never fully won or over.
—American Enterprise Institute senior fellow James Capretta in a statement
President Trump was referring to rooting out the billions of dollars of fraud in these vital [domestic] programs—and his record proves he will always protect and strengthen Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The President proudly signed historic legislation eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits for nearly all seniors and barring illegal immigrants and other ineligible individuals from fraudulently receiving Medicare and Medicaid benefits.
—White House assistant press secretary Olivia Wales to NBC News
Look to a libertarian.
Congress absolutely must cut and reform federal healthcare spending, for the sake of taxpayers and enrollees in those programs. But … if there’s enough waste and fraud in government healthcare spending to fund a 40% increase in military spending, then we should focus exclusively on [reforming] those [healthcare] programs.
—Cato Institute director of health policy studies Michael Cannon in a Cato blogpost
Read the White House’s full budget proposal here.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.