Schumer to Block Any Senate Effort To Cut CDC’s Budget

The Senate’s top Democrat said that he will work to block a plan that would significantly cut the proposed budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warning that such a spending reduction could endanger the public, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Democrats said the proposal in a House bill includes a reduction of the CDC’s proposed budget by $1.8 billion, or about 22%, which would harm public health. I Photo: James Gathany, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wikimedia Commons

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told AP he would block legislation from passing the Senate if it were to include the proposed cut. Democrats said the proposal in a House bill includes a reduction of the CDC’s proposed budget by $1.8 billion, or about 22%, which would harm public health.

The Republican-led effort would also mean a major cut in programs designed to address firearm injuries and opioid overdose prevention.

The Republican-led House Appropriations Committee advanced the measure on a party-line vote in July. Schumer said such a reduction would "wreak havoc and chaos on food safety funding mechanisms and tracking operations at a core level."

He pointed specifically to the CDC’s work on the ongoing listeria food poisoning outbreak linked to Boar’s Head deli meats that has killed at least three people and sickened more than 40 others.