On May 30, 2025, the White House released the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 technical supplemental to the FY 2026 budget, with the goal of “making Americans the healthiest in the world” while “transforming the bureaucracy.”[1] The release of this budget follows the “skinny budget” released on May 2, 2025, which included top-line discretionary spending numbers.[2]

For the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Administration is requesting $94.7 billion in discretionary funding. The ultimate budget for HHS and its subagencies will be determined by Congress and not the White House. However, the budget request does provide insight into the Administration’s policies and administrative priorities for the coming year.

The White House’s FY 2026 budget is available here. A full HHS operating division budget breakdown is included in the HHS FY 2026 Budget in Brief (herein referred to as pdf).

BUDGET REQUEST HIGHLIGHTS

PDF pages 4-8. See PDF page 8 of the budget for an infographic of priorities.

• HHS Reorganization: The Administration proposes consolidating 28 divisions into 15, merging several agencies into the new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) and two agencies into the Administration for Children, Families, and Communities (ACFC). Through reductions in employees, HHS aims to save $3.1 billion annually.
• AHA: AHA will support primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, the health workforce, environmental health, HIV/AIDS, and policy, research, and oversight. Multiple agencies, including the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and some programs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will be combined to form this new agency. $14 billion in discretionary funding for AHA is proposed for programs that address chronic disease, a key focus of AHA.
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Priorities: To lower drug costs, FDA will work to improve inspections and facilitate approval of generics and biosimilars. $240 million is allocated for Make America Health Again (MAHA) activities, including those related to the food supply.
• Support for Tribal Health: $7.9 billion is allocated to the Indian Health Service (IHS). AHA includes $80 million for a new Native American Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder program.
• Significant Reduction in National Institutes of Health (NIH) and CDC Funding: $27.5 billion is allocated to the NIH, a decrease of roughly 40 percent compared to FY 2025. NIH will focus on “gold standard science and radical transparency.” $4.1 billion is allocated to the CDC, more than a 40 percent cut compared to FY 2025. Some CDC programs will be consolidated under AHA.

Additional details are included below.

BUDGET OVERVIEW

The FY 2026 HHS Budget Request includes two discretionary program spending charts, one reflecting the reorganization proposal (PDF page 9), and another reflecting the current HHS structure (PDF page 10). The FDA, CDC, NIH, and CMS all have proposed budget reductions. Funding for IHS is proposed to increase. The table below is in millions of dollars.

Agency	2025 Budget – Reflecting Existing HHS Structure[3]	2025 Budget – Reflecting Reorganization Proposal	2026 Budget Request	Increase or Decrease from 2025 – Reflecting Reorganization Proposal
Administration for a Healthy America	N/A	Budget authority:$20,202 Program level:$24,267	Budget authority:$14,058 Program level:$19,015	Budget authority:-$6,144 Program level:       -$5,252
FDA	Budget authority:$3,576 Program level:$7,027	Budget authority:$3,576 Program level:$7,027	Budget authority:$3,167 Program level:$6,557	Budget authority:-$409 Program level:       -$252
Indian Health Service	Budget authority:$6,988 Program level:$7,107	Budget authority:$6,988 Program level:$7,107	Budget authority:$7,909 Program level:$8,068	Budget authority:+$921 Program level:+$961
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	Budget authority:$8,019 Program level:$9,248	Budget authority:$4,666 Program level:$5,560	Budget authority:$4,116 Program level:$4,321	Budget authority:-$550 Program level:       -$1,239
National Institutes of Health	Budget authority:$45,463 Program level:$46,995	Budget authority:$44,470 Program level:$46,001	Budget authority:$27,506 Program level:$27,915	Budget authority:-$16,963 Program level:       -$18,086
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Budget authority:$4,125 Program level:$7,128	Budget authority:$4,137 Program level:$7,141	Budget authority:$3,464 Program level:$5,941	Budget authority:-$673 Program level:        -$1,200
Administration for Children, Families, and Communities	N/A	Budget authority:$36,516 Program level:$36,631	Budget authority:$29,331 Program level:$29,416	Budget authority:-$7,185 Program level:       -$7,215

 

Administration for a Healthy America PDF pages 36-43

The newly established AHA will serve as the central federal agency focused on prevention. Its mission includes addressing the underlying factors that contribute to chronic disease, supporting preventive care, expanding access to mental health and substance use services, and improving access to healthy environments such as clean water, nutritious food, and opportunities for physical activity.

AHA consolidates functions from several existing federal entities, including the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and various programs and centers previously part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The organization is structured around the following program areas: Primary Care, Maternal and Child Health, Mental and Behavioral Health, Environmental Health, HIV/AIDS, Health Workforce, and Policy, Research, and Oversight.

The FY 2026 budget proposes $19.0 billion in total funding for AHA, including $14.0 billion in discretionary funding and $4.8 billion in mandatory funding. Budget details by program area are as follows:

Primary Care:

• $7.2 billion in total discretionary funding.
• $6.1 billion ($1.8 billion discretionary, $4.3 billion mandatory) to support Health Center operations and provide comprehensive medical care and support services.
• $284 million for rural health grant programs and technical assistance, including $145 million for the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program.
• $550 million for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control to administer a new consolidated block grant, supporting domestic and sexual violence prevention efforts previously led by CDC.
• $53 million in discretionary funding for health promotion and national health goal-setting initiatives formerly managed by OASH.
• $18 million for anti-doping efforts previously under the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
• $54 million to continue the Organ Transplantation Program, including the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act.

Maternal and Child Health:

• $1.1 billion in total discretionary funding.
• $897 million in discretionary funding to continue maternal and child health programs previously managed by HRSA.
• $767 million for the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant, which provides formula awards to states based on population and need.
• $158 million to address birth defects, developmental disabilities, and disability and health activities formerly administered by CDC.
• $30 million to support expert consultation on women’s health, develop Department-wide goals, and coordinate cross-agency prevention, care, research, and education initiatives across the female lifespan.
• $1 million for the Embryo Adoption Awareness Campaign, previously operated by OASH.

Mental and Behavioral Health:

• $5.8 billion to total discretionary funding.
• Maintains suicide prevention programs, including $520 million for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and $28 million for the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, and continues support for mental health promotion.
• $385 million for Certified Community Health Behavioral Clinics.
• $4 billion for a new Behavioral Health Innovation Block Grant, consolidating several former block grants to support mental health and substance use services.
• $80 million for the new Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder Resources for Native Americans Grant Program to support tribal communities.
• $70 million for the Drug-Free Communities program, currently administered by ONDCP, and $11 million to sustain support for Opioid Treatment Programs and provide technical assistance aimed at reducing opioid overdose deaths.

HIV/AIDS:

• $2.7 billion in total discretionary funding.
• $2.5 million for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which was previously housed within HRSA, including $156 million for the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative.
• $220 million to continue EHE activities formerly carried out by CDC and $157 million for EHE programming in Health Centers.
• $8 million to support leadership and coordination of EHE and broader HIV/AIDS efforts, formerly led by OASH’s Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy.

Environmental Health:

• $728 million in total discretionary funding.
• $655 million to support research on environmental impacts on health, including $646 million for environmental studies and $9 million for safe water initiatives. These efforts build on programs previously run by NIEHS and CDC.
• $67 million for mining safety and health research.
• $6 million for the National Firefighter Registry and $1 million for the National Mesothelioma Registry and Tissue Bank, both formerly managed by CDC.

Health Workforce:

• $948 million in total discretionary funding for workforce development in rural and underserved areas.
• $474 million for the National Health Service Corps and $175 million for the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program.
• $129 million for Behavioral Health Workforce Development, including training and loan repayment programs focused on addiction and mental health providers.

Policy, Research, and Oversight:

• $569 million in total discretionary funding.
• $260 million for the MAHA initiative to address key health issues, including nutrition, physical activity, medication overuse, digital habits, lead exposure, and Alzheimer’s disease:
  • $119 million for the Prevention Innovation Program to combat chronic disease and childhood obesity.
  • $20 million for the Chronic Care Telehealth Centers for Excellence program and $8 million for the Telehealth Nutrition Services Network Grant Program to integrate digital tools in chronic care and nutrition services.
  • $35 million to address Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. This initiative was formerly executed by CDC.
  • $56 million for the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and Lead Exposure Registry.
• $20 million to support the Office of the Surgeon General, now housed within AHA, to oversee the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps and other health programs.
• $5 million in PHS Evaluation funding to continue public health evaluations, building on work formerly led by OASH.
• $67 million to support behavioral health data systems, surveys, performance tracking, and public awareness efforts previously managed by SAMHSA.
• $15 million for administering the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program. No new funding is provided for countermeasures compensation.
• $223 million to support staff, program operations, information technology, and oversight and program integrity activities.

Food and Drug Administration PDF pages 13-16

FDA ensures and advances public health through a variety of activities such as overseeing the nation’s food supply and food safety and advancing safe and effective medical products. The budget request reflects the Administration’s MAHA initiatives, medical device oversight, tobacco regulations, and critical infrastructure repairs.

• $6.8 billion, including $3.2 billion in discretionary budget authority and $3.6 billion in user fees.

MAHA Food-Related Initiatives: $240 million to protect food supplies, address chronic disease, fortify food safety oversight, expand state agreements for routine food inspections, reduce infant formula contamination and shortages, and support laboratory analysis.

• $49 million to address risks associated with ultra-processed foods (UPFs) by eliminating unsafe additives.
• $33 million to combat the chronic disease crisis. FDA will provide new forms of nutrition labeling and expand a new pilot program to assist schools as they transition to healthier foods.
• $98 million to strengthen food safety, which will support inspections and technological advancements to rapidly identify and combat foodborne disease.
• $33 million to expand current state agreements for routine domestic food facility inspections to include all applicable domestic facilities, to the extent that is possible.
• $15 million to continue efforts to modernize infant formula oversight.
• $7 million to support the surveillance of the food supply through laboratory analysis.

Medical Product Safety: $455 million for FDA’s medical device program to maintain core activities.

Reducing the Use and Harm of Tobacco: $712 million for the Tobacco Program, which aims to reduce tobacco-related disease and mortality in the U.S.

Buildings and Facilities: $5 million to improve infrastructure and buildings at FDA-owned facilities and to support these costs.

User Fees: $3.6 billion in user fees, which will bolster FDA’s food and medical product safety responsibilities.

Indian Health Service PDF pages 17-20

The IHS provides healthcare to American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) people.

• $8.1 billion in mandatory and discretionary funding, including $7.9 billion in discretionary funding and $159 million for the mandatory Special Diabetes Program for Indians.

Investments in High-Quality Healthcare:

• $5.1 billion in direct healthcare services.
  • $87 million to fund staffing and operating costs for five new healthcare facilities.
  • Funding for new tribes.
  • $191 million for Electronic Health Record system modernization.

Preventive Health: $159 million to reauthorize the Special Diabetes Program for Indians.

Facilities and Construction:

• $716 million for facilities programs, including construction funding, sanitation funding, and funding for other facilities.
• $1.7 billion for contract support costs, which covers costs associated with administering contracts through which the Tribes assume direct responsibility of IHS programs.
• $413 million for Section 105(I) leases, which cover reasonable operating costs for facilities leased or owned by Tribes and tribal organizations to carry out health programs.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention PDF pages 21-23

CDC utilizes federal funding to respond to health threats, support infectious disease surveillance, outbreak investigations, preparedness and response, and maintain the public health infrastructure. The budget request reflects the Administration’s priorities to focus on “gold standard science and regaining the trust of the American people.”

• $4.3 billion in total discretionary program funding for CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
• $4.1 billion in discretionary budget authority and $205 million in Public Health Service Evaluation funds.
• This budget eliminates the following programs: Domestic and Global HIV/AIDS, Global Tuberculosis, Global Immunization, and the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and its respective programs, with the exception of the Alzheimer’s disease program, which is now led by AHA.
• Within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) this budget eliminates the Hospital Preparedness Program Cooperative Agreements, HHS Coordination Operations and Response Element, and the Medical Reserve Corps.

Maintaining Public Health Infrastructure:

• This budget maintains investments in capabilities to enhance public health data.
• $114 million for Public Health Leadership and support to maintain CDC’s capacity to provide oversight and manage the funding appropriated.
• $260 million for Public Health Infrastructure and Capacity grant (PHIG).
• $71 million for public health training and fellowships.

Surveilling Emerging and Infectious Diseases:

• $50 million for The Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics.
• With the National Security Council, the budget establishes a “new biothreat detection system that can rapidly detect novel pathogens with 24-hour turnaround times.”
• $328 million for surveillance activities within funding for Public Health and Scientific Services.
• $23 million maintained for the Surveillance for Emerging Threats to Mothers and Babies (SET-NET) program.
• $293 million for global disease and emergency response activities.
• $300 million for a new grant program to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted infections and eliminating viral hepatitis and tuberculosis.

Responding to Public Health Threats:

• $588 million to fund the new Center for Preparedness and Response.
• $99 million for the following programs that were previously in ASPR: National Disaster Medical System, Preparedness and Response Innovation, and Health Care Readiness and Recovery.
• $350 million will support the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program
• $963 million to the discretionary immunization and respiratory diseases program.
• $78 million for the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).

National Institutes of Health PDF pages 24-26

The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) mission is to “seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.” The budget request supports the proposed reorganization of NIH’s institutes and centers to “allow the agency to focus on true science.” Under the proposed restructuring, NIH’s institutes and centers would be reorganized into eight institutes.[4]

• $27.5 billion in total discretionary funding.
• $250 million in Public Health Service (PHS) evaluation funds to support the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.
• $226 million in 21^st Century Cures Act authorized funding to support the All of Us Research Programand the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative.
• $210 million to support NIH infrastructure needs.
• The budget request continues the policy to cap indirect cost rates at 15 percent.
• The budget eliminates the National Institutes for Nursing Research, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Fogarty International Center, and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.

Innovative Research to End the Chronic Disease Crisis:

• $159 million to reauthorize the Special Type 1 Diabetes Program.
• Continue the Office of the Director’s Initiative to understand the causes of autism, including through the launch of a real-world data platform.
• Build on and continue existing research on biological and chemical exposures that could lead to the increase in chronic disease.
• NIH Nutrition Regulatory Science and Research Program will partner with FDA to continue research on “food additives that impact children’s health and development, gold-standard nutrition advancements, and food-related research for healthier Americans.”

Aligned with the Administration’s priority of “restoring trust in public science,” the budget will:

• Remove Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices throughout the agency.
• Support maximum transparency across NIH work and “restore credibility to NIH science.” Replicability, reproducibility, and transparency of results are key focuses.
• Invest in innovation to support research to cure diseases.
• Eliminate federally funded “dangerous gain-of-function research” on biological agents and pathogens.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Program Integrity PDF pages 27-28

CMS Program Integrity investments aim to protect federal healthcare programs by detecting, preventing, and prosecuting fraud, waste, and abuse. The FY 2026 budget continues significant funding for two primary programs: the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control (HCFAC) Program and the Medicaid Integrity Program.

The HCFAC program returns over $8 for every $1 spent based on a 3-year rolling average, with law enforcement activities returning $2.80 per $1 and recovering $3.4 billion in FY 2023. Due to its high return on investment, discretionary HCFAC funding receives an allocation adjustment and is not subject to budget caps. The Medicaid Integrity Program, established in 2006, provides state oversight, audits, and technical support to reduce Medicaid and CHIP fraud, with funding indexed to inflation.

The budget provides $2.7 billion total budget authority for these programs, including:

• $1.7 billion in mandatory HCFAC funding from the Medicare Part A Trust Fund (subject to sequester), $941 million in discretionary HCFAC funding, $105 million for the Medicaid Integrity Program.
• Discretionary HCFAC funding breakdown: $699 million to CMS, $133 million to the Department of Justice, $109 million to the HHS Office of Inspector General.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Program Management

PDF pages 29-30

Program Management provides funding for administrative functions for Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Exchange plans. The budget request reflects the Administration’s priorities of eliminating unnecessary and wasteful spending.

• $6 billion in total discretionary and reimbursable funding.
• Eliminates discretionary funding for: health equity, certain community outreach activities (excluding Tribal), and certain administrative costs to implement the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The budget does not identify the specific programs for which funding is proposed to be eliminated.

Stewardship of Taxpayer Resources and Program Sustainability:

• $722 million to continue core Medicare operations, including those carried out by the Medicare Administrative Contactors (MACs). CMS plans to encourage more beneficiaries to enroll in electronic Medicare Summary Notices to improve efficiency.
• $130 million to Medicaid and CHIP administrative operations.
• $284 million to the National Medicare Education Program, which includes mailing handbooks to Medicare beneficiaries and answering beneficiary calls.
• $88 million to process second-level appeals for claims in Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage.
• $2.1 billion to the Federal Exchange. The FY 2026 budget permits user fees to cover all costs associated with the Federal Exchange to make it “self-sustaining.”
• $442 million to the Survey and Certification program, to support fraud and abuse prevention and detection.

Strategic Investments:

• $22 million to restart the durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies competitive bidding program.
• $12 million to 340B Drug Pricing Program oversight. The budget recommends shifting the 340B program into CMS for “streamlined processes and the ability to utilize inhouse drug-pricing resources and expertise.”

Office of the Secretary: General Departmental Management PDF pages 44-45

Funding for the Office of the Secretary supports the Secretary’s role as chief policy officer and as the Department’s general manager. It includes six divisions. Some offices under the Office of the Secretary are proposed to be impacted by the reorganization. $330 million in funding is requested.

• $130 million to establish the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), which will include the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), previously under the Assistant Secretary for Administration, and the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (IT) (ASTP). The CTO will advance cybersecurity and health IT priorities. $100 million of the $130 million will go towards the HHS Cybersecurity Program, which ensures that Departmental IT can address cyber threats and is secure. CTO will also focus on interoperability, including through the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA).
• $190 million to facilitate program integrity and leadership oversight.
• Administrative functions will be reorganized to improve efficiency. Global, legislative, intergovernmental, and public affairs will be consolidated under one office, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for External Affairs.

Office of the Secretary: Assistant Secretary for Enforcement PDF pages 46-47

The Office of the Secretary: Assistant Secretary for Enforcement (ASE), a newly proposed office under the reorganization, works to ensure that HHS services are “administered with the highest levels of fairness, accountability, compliance, and integrity.” ASE will combine four offices: Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Office for Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA), Departmental Appeals Board (DAB), and the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). $231 million in funding is requested. The budget does not include specific funding requests for the priorities outlined below.

Case Backlog Reduction: Support case backlog reduction efforts in the Office of Civil Rights and for Medicare appeals.

Health Research and Security Protections:  

• Support the enforcement of HIPPA privacy, security, and breach notification rules.
• Support the protection of human subjects involved in research, including by providing clarification and guidance in biomedical and social-behavioral research.
• Bolster policy, education, and outreach efforts in all non-discrimination areas.

Office of the Secretary: Office of Strategy PDF pages 48-50

The newly established Office of Strategy is a consolidated HHS entity that leads strategic planning, health services research, evaluation, and data initiatives to drive evidence-based policymaking and improve national health outcomes. The FY 2026 budget reflects a major reorganization, combining functions previously housed in the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and the Office of Research Integrity (formerly under the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health). Digital healthcare and patient-centered outcomes research programs are eliminated.

The budget provides $458 million in total program level funding, including:

• $240 million for health services research, patient safety, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
• $219 million from Public Health Service Evaluation Funds to support statistical analysis, strategic planning, and research integrity.

Advancing Healthcare Services Research and Quality:

• $66 million for health services research to improve quality and reduce care gaps through evidence-based dissemination, including Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) data use.
• $43 million to improve patient safety, reduce medical errors, and support safety organizations.
• $7 million to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to support transparent, science-driven clinical guidelines.
• $76 million in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the only national survey tracking annual healthcare utilization and costs.
• $175 million for the National Center for Health Statistics, now reorganized under the Office of Strategy, to strengthen policy-relevant health data.
• $14 million in oversight functions under the Office of Research Integrity, responsible for safeguarding the integrity of Public Health Service research.
• 663 full-time equivalents (FTEs) allocated for FY 2026.

Office of the Secretary: Office of Inspector General PDF page 51

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has oversight over HHS grants and contracts. OIG’s three main objectives are 1) fighting fraud, waste, and abuse, 2) promoting quality, safety, and value, and 3) advancing excellence and innovation, including encouraging implementation of OIG recommendations.

• $87 million in discretionary funding.
• $109 million in discretionary HCFAC funding, in addition to an estimated $250 million in mandatory HCFAC funding and $9 million HCFAC collections.

Office of the Secretary: Assistant Secretary for a Healthy Future

PDF pages 52-53

The newly established Assistant Secretary for a Healthy Future will support MAHA initiatives through streamlined public health research and development efforts. The budget request reflects the planned reorganization of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H). $3.7 billion in funding is requested.

Building a Healthier Future:

• $945 million to ARPA-H to continue program investments that address urgent problems in health.
• $1.7 billion for programs overseen by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), including $654 million for advanced research and development projects, $725 million for Project Bio Shield, $308 million for BARDA’s Pandemic Influenza program.

America’s Preparedness Infrastructure: $750 million for the Strategy National Stockpile and to support the onshoring of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and key starting materials.

Office of the Secretary: Assistant Secretary for Consumer Product Safety

PDF page 54

The Assistant Secretary for Consumer Product Safety aims to protect the public from potential risks posed by consumer products. The budget request proposes reorganizing the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and transfers its authority to the HHS Office of the Secretary as the Assistant Secretary for Consumer Product Safety (ASCPS).  $135 million in funding is requested.

Administration for Children, Families, and Communities: Discretionary

PDF pages 31-35

The budget requests funding to establish the $29.3 billion for the ACFC, which combines the ACF and ACL, to “help parents return to work to achieve economic self-sufficiency and assisting individuals in all stages of life.” Programs include the Head Start Program, childcare, youth and family violence programs, programs for older adult health, and programs for individuals with disabilities. Funding is eliminated for several programs.

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This Applied Policy® Summary was prepared by Emma Hammer with support from the Applied Policy team of health policy experts. If you have any questions or need more information, please contact her at ehammer@appliedpolicy.com or at (202) 558-5272.

[1] https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/fy-2026-budget-in-brief.pdf

[2] https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fiscal-Year-2026-Discretionary-Budget-Request.pdf

[3] 2025 funding is non-comparable to the FY 2026 President’s Budget request. See PDF page 12 of the budget for details.

[4] See PDF page 25 of the President’s Budget for an infographic of the proposed reorganization.