NEW YORK (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat said Sunday he will work to block a plan that would significantly reduce the proposed budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warning that such spending cuts could put the public in danger.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told the Associated Press he would block legislation from passing the Senate if it included the proposed cut.
Democrats said the proposal in a House account 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 treat gunshot injuries and prevent opioid overdoses.
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 security funding mechanisms and central-level tracking operations.”
He specifically pointed to the CDC’s work on the ongoing outbreak of listeria food poisoning linked to Boar’s Head deli meat, which killed at least three people and sickened more than 40 people.
“A 22% cut to the CDC at a time when there is a listeria outbreak should shake all of our stomachs,” Schumer said in an interview.
Boar’s Head recalled 7 million pounds of deli meats on July 30, expanding an initial recall on July 25 after a liverwurst sample collected by health officials in Maryland tested positive for listeria. The CDC said last week that New York health officials tested a liver sausage sample and confirmed the same strain of listeria.
The recall includes more than 70 products — including liverwurst, ham, beef salami and bologna — manufactured at the company’s plant in Jarratt, Virginia.
If the measure is approved, “the federal government’s overall food security apparatus could be at risk.”
“It’s devastating,” Schumer said. “The Senate will not support them.”
