CASSIDY WANTS HIV DRUGS TO FLOW AGAIN — Senate HELP Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) wants the spending freeze imposed by the Trump administration to be lifted for HIV drugs used by clinics in Africa, Carmen reports. “[The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief] is the epitome of soft power,” Cassidy posted on the social platform X on Monday, referencing the program PEPFAR, credited with saving 25 million lives since then-President George W. Bush created it in 2003 by delivering drugs worldwide for people living with HIV. Some of PEPFAR’s lifesaving funding received a waiver from the ongoing foreign-aid spending freeze instituted last month, but many organizations are still waiting for guidance to resume operations. Cassidy said he was told “drugs are still being held at clinics in Africa.” “This must be reversed immediately!!” he wrote. Why it matters: Cassidy is the first top Republican to publicly support the program amid the spending freeze and the restructuring of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which handles some PEPFAR funds. On Sunday, House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) questioned why the U.S. foots the bill for drugs against HIV and AIDS for 20 million people across Africa when many of their countries work directly with U.S. adversaries like China. USAID CLOSURE SOWS DOUBT — The Trump administration’s closure of USAID’s main building in Washington on Monday puts the agency’s future in doubt, Carmen reports. Staffers of the humanitarian agency, which handles billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid, received an email early Monday about the building’s closure soon after tech mogul and President Donald Trump ally Elon Musk said he had spoken to the president, who agreed to close the agency. “With regard to the USAID stuff, I went over it with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down,” Musk said in a live X Spaces event early Monday morning. Trump has tasked Musk with leading the Department of Government Efficiency, which is exploring where cuts can be made in the executive branch. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Why it matters: The agency hosts several global health programs, including those that focus on reducing malaria mortality, eliminating infectious diseases and combating the spread of tuberculosis. Key context: Trump told reporters Sunday evening that the agency was run by “radical left lunatics” that the administration was kicking out “and then we’ll make a decision.” Any major structural reform to USAID is almost certain to need congressional approval.
| 
