Trump's cruel calculus on public health is slashing lifelines for the most vulnerable

Trump’s cruel calculus on public health is slashing lifelines for the most vulnerable
Blaming COVID to defund public health isn’t about bookkeeping. It’s about whose lives matter enough to fund

By Claire Zagorski - Chad Sabora
Published April 2, 2025 5:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) On March 25, Andrew Nixon, director of communications at Health and Human Services, said “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.”

This is not a policy clarification. It’s a betrayal wrapped in spin.

While the White House justifies its clawback of $11.4 billion in public health funds by declaring the pandemic “over,” the truth — buried beneath rhetoric — is that this money was never solely about COVID. These funds were the only significant investments in behavioral health infrastructure in a generation, targeting deeply underfunded mental health and substance use services long before and long after the virus.

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These were not “emergency pandemic tools.” They were lifelines — a fragile but vital safety net for communities devastated by opioids, trauma, suicide and structural neglect. To erase that with one sentence is not just dishonest. It’s inhumane.

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The HHS statement serves as rhetorical camouflage, designed to ignite fatigue and resentment among voters who want to “move on.” But what they’re being told to move on from is mental health access for their children, lifesaving treatment for opioid addiction, and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ teens. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/02/trumps-cruel-calculus-on-public-health-is-slashing-lifelines-for-the-most-vulnerable/