COVID-19 Rescissions

Following is a breakdown of nearly $28 billion that would be rescinded from unspent pandemic relief funds in the debt ceiling bill (HR 3746). Almost half of the funding, $13.4 billion, would come from Health and Human Services accounts, predominantly the "public health and social services emergency fund.” The public health fund would be cut by $10.4 billion, but the Biden Administration notes that $10 billion will be left after the rescission, and that "priority investments like next generation vaccines, test procurement capacity, and long COVID research" would remain. An additional $1.7 billion would come from CDC, which may include $400 million that, according to GOP talking points, would be cut from CDC's global health fund "that sends taxpayer money to China" for vaccines.  Per the White House, some $2 billion in CDC funding would be protected in the agreement, including $500 million for the "Infectious Diseases Rapid Response Reserve Fund."