The Department of Health and Human Services is considering closing the HIV Prevention Division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and transferring some of its programs to a different agency, according to a report by the New York Times.

The Times and Politico cited government sources who spoke on condition of not being identified as saying plans under consideration from the administration also call for possible funding cuts in the domestic HIV prevention program following funding cuts already put in place for foreign U.S. HIV programs.

“It’s not 100 percent going to happen, but 100 percent being discussed,” the Times quoted one of the sources as saying.

News of the possible shutdown of the HIV Prevention Division and possible cuts in HIV prevention funds prompted 13 of the nation’s leading LGBTQ, HIV, and health organizations to release a joint statement on March19 condemning what they said could result in a “devastating effect” on the nation’s progress in fighting AIDS.

Among the organizations signing on to the joint statement were D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+ Hepatitis Policy Institute, which opposes funding cuts or curtailment in domestic AIDS programs, points out in a separate statement that it was President Trump during his first term in office who put in place the HIV Epidemic Initiative, which calls for ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030.

That initiative, which Trump announced in his 2019 State of the Union address, is credited with having reduced new HIV infections nationwide by 30 percent in adolescents and young adults, and by about 10 percent in most other groups, according to the Times report on possible plans to scale back the program.

In a statement released to Politico, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said, “HHS is following the Administration’s guidance and taking a careful look at all divisions to see where there is overlap that could be streamlined to support the President’s broader efforts to restructure the federal government.”

“No final decision on streamlining CDC’s HIV Prevention Division has been made,” Nixon said in his statement. 

“An effort to defund HIV prevention by this administration would set us back decades, cost innocent people their lives and cost taxpayers millions,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, in a March 19 statement.

“The LGBTQ+ community still carries the scars of the government negligence and mass death of the HIV/AIDS epidemic,”  Robinson said. “We should be doubling down on our investment to end the HIV epidemic once and for all, not regressing to the days of funeral services and a virus running rampant,” she said. 

“We are outraged and deeply alarmed by the Trump administration’s reckless moves to defund and de-prioritize HIV prevention,” the statement released by the 13 organizations says. “These abrupt and incomprehensible possible cuts threaten to reverse decades of progress, exposing our nation to a resurgence of a preventable disease with devastating and avoidable human and financial costs,” the statement says.  

The University of Pennsylvania learned Wednesday from Fox News and social media that the Trump-Vance administration is pausing $175 million in federal funding because of its nondiscrimination policy that allows transgender student athletes to compete as their authentic selves.

A reporter from Fox Business was first to break the news, describing the decision as a “pro-active punishment” for UPenn’s policy which she said violated Trump’s executive order, signed last month, banning “men from competing in women’s sports.”

BREAKING: The Trump Administration has “paused $175 million in federal funding from the University of Pennsylvania” over its policies forcing women to compete with men in sports.

Promises made, promises kept. pic.twitter.com/o4yiiqtH9d

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 19, 2025

The reporter went on to say an ongoing Title IX investigation puts the university “at risk of losing all its federal funding” because Lia Thomas, a former UPenn student athlete, made history three years ago this week by competing with other women. 

That investigation, according to Fox, centers on the school’s decision to “allow transgender and biological male Lia Thomas to compete on the women’s swim team, use women’s locker rooms while exposing his male genitalia to his fellow female athletes.” 

A spokesperson for the university told Fox it had not received any “official notification” of the decision on funding by the Trump administration. UPenn said the university was and is in “full compliance” with NCAA and Ivy League policies:

“We are aware of media reports suggesting a suspension of $175 million in federal funding to Penn, but have not yet received any official notification or any details. It is important to note, however, that Penn has always followed NCAA and Ivy League policies regarding student participation on athletic teams. We have been in the past, and remain today, in full compliance with the regulations that apply to not only Penn, but all of our NCAA and Ivy League peer institutions.”

As the Washington Blade reported on March 17, 2022, Thomas was a UPenn senior when she became the NCAA’s first openly trans Division 1 national champion at the Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship held in Atlanta that day. She won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:33:24, one second faster than her closest competitor. 

Thomas graduated in 2022 and started her pursuit of a law degree and the chance to compete in last summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a worldwide ban on trans women athletes in June 2024, ending her dream of swimming at the Olympics or any other women’s competition, as the Blade reported. 

Thomas did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening. Last summer, the aspiring attorney commented on the decision that smashed her hopes of competing again. 

“Blanket bans preventing trans women from competing are discriminatory and deprive us of valuable athletic opportunities that are central to our identities,” said Thomas. 

Openly trans athlete and activist Chris Mosier noted in a video posted on Instagram that Thomas and the university were in total compliance with rules of that time, and that the funding is being frozen despite the fact Trump was not even in office when Thomas competed. 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Chris Mosier | Trans Athlete (@thechrismosier)

Also speaking out Wednesday was Riley Gaines, who tied with Thomas for fifth place at the 2022 championships and has gone to become a paid spokesperson for anti-inclusion women’s sports organizations. 

“The Trump administration has yet again taken swift action to uphold common sense and preserve women’s opportunities by pausing $175 million in federal funding to the University of Pennsylvania,” Gaines told Fox News. 

UPenn’s policy appears online, stating: “The Policy of Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination at the University of Pennsylvania states “the University of Pennsylvania prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.” 

“The federal Title IX Policy extends to trans students; it states “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

A federal judge in D.C. on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender service members, which was scheduled to take effect on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued the preliminary injunction, saying the policy violates the Constitution. 

“Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender service members have sacrificed — some risking their lives — to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the military ban seeks to deny them,” Reyes wrote.

The legal challenge to Trump’s trans military ban executive, Talbott v. Trump, was brought by LGBTQ groups GLAD Law and National Center for Lesbian Rights. 

Reyes found that the ban violates equal protection because it discriminates based on trans status and sex and because “it is soaked in animus,” noting that its language is “unabashedly demeaning, its policy stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit, and its conclusions bear no relation to fact.”

The lead attorneys in the case are GLAD Law Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights Jennifer Levi and NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter.

“Today’s decisive ruling speaks volumes,” said Levi. “The court’s unambiguous factual findings lay bare how this ban specifically targets and undermines our courageous service members who have committed themselves to defending our nation. Given the court’s clear-eyed assessment, we are confident this ruling will stand strong on appeal.”

Nicolas Talbott, a second lieutenant in the Army Reserves, and Erica Vandal, a major in the U.S. Army, are two of the 14 plaintiffs in the case. They spoke during a virtual press conference with Levi and Minter on Wednesday.

“Yesterday’s ruling is just such a tremendous step forward for transgender service members,” said Talbott.

Vandal added the ruling “clearly recognizes that transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines have been serving openly as our authentic selves for nearly a decade in every capacity, at every echelon, in every theater and combat zone across the world, all while meeting and exceeding the same standards as every one else without causing any degradation or unit cohesion.” 

Levi said Reyes’s ruling requires “the military to return to business as usual.”

The decision is stayed until 10 a.m. on Thursday. It is not immediately clear whether the Trump-Vance administration will challenge it.

“What the order does is stave off, put off any effect of the ban actually being implemented against any individuals,” said Levi.