1/14/2021

BUDGET/COVID-19/VACCINES: “President Donald Trump has sent lawmakers a sweeping package of spending cuts to consider before he leaves office, including billions in funding for a global health and vaccine distribution program involved in the Covid fight, according to the package obtained by POLITICO.

The $27.4 billion in proposed cuts is known as a rescission request — a largely symbolic package of spending claw-backs that the White House presents to Congress. There is no chance that Congress actually acts on the request. But the inclusion of $4 billion in funding for GAVI, a public-private partnership promoting vaccination in low-income countries, will likely fuel more criticism of the president’s approach to global health efforts in general and the Covid pandemic in particular.”

-Caitlin Emma, Daniel Lippman, and Meredith McGraw, “Trump wants billions cut from global Covid vaccine distributor,” politico.com, Jan. 14, 2021