AIDS activists disrupt Vought’s testimony on Trump’s budget

A group of AIDS activists and former USAID employees disrupted White House budget director Russ Vought’s testimony before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday.

Capitol police officers escorted the protesters out of the room as the group chanted “PEPFAR saves lives — spend the money” and held signs that read statement such as “Protect PEPFAR from Vought,” forcing the director to pause his opening statement for several minutes.

The Trump administration has tried to slash funding for the program that seeks to reduce HIV and AIDS in developing nations. But Congress rejected those proposals earlier this year, clearing $4.6 billion for the program for the current fiscal year, down from $4.8 billion enacted for the prior fiscal year.

Republicans also bucked the Trump administration’s request last summer to claw back $400 million Congress had already approved for the AIDS-fighting program, nixing that reduction from the $9 billion rescissions package Congress cleared in July.

In August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio handed off the reins of the U.S. Agency for International Development to Vought, to “oversee the closeout” of the agency Trump moved to dismantle after he was inaugurated last year.

Carmen Paun contributed to this report.