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The Trump administration has issued draconian new rules that greatly limit student loans for students studying for a wide variety of healthcare professions, including nurses and nurse practitioners, physician assistants, social workers, physical and occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, mental health counselors and many others. A proposal has been introduced in both houses of Congress to block this rule, and Congress must hear how urgent it is to pass it.

The President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), launched in 2003 by President George W. Bush, is one of the most successful global health programs in history. Yet PEPFAR is under threat from the Trump Administration, which has already undermined the program by dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and refusing to spend all appropriated PEPFAR funds on time. Now, the U.S. State Department has released guidance that would eliminate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a major PEPFAR implementer.

Please write to your members of Congress today.

We stopped one bad Surgeon General nominee, now we must do it again! Nicole Saphier has been nominated to serve as U.S. Surgeon General. We must speak loudly and clearly: Nicole Saphier is totally unqualified to serve as U.S. Surgeon General and must be rejected by the Senate. She has spread lies about measles, hepatitis B and COVID vaccination, sells quack cures on Amazon and has no public health experience. Tell your Senators to oppose this nomination now!

After a year of relentless attacks on the health of Americans from the highest levels of government, Defend Public Health believes it is critical to not just fight back against those attacks, but to articulate a positive vision for what U.S. public health can and should be in the future. We can't just rebuild what has been broken. We must build something better.

We are calling on all candidates running for higher office in the midterm elections to endorse the People's Health Platform. Endorsements from both individuals and organizations will help us build momentum. Please join the effort today!

The Office of Management and Budget has instructed the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to claw back $600 million in public health funds previously awarded to programs in the Democrat-led states of California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota, citing “waste and mismanagement.” These nakedly political cuts will devastate funding for core public health infrastructure that keeps Americans safe. Call your members of Congress today!

DHS and ICE are threats to public health through violence and inhumane treatment of detainees. DPH has created a letter that you can send to your elected representatives telling them not to fund these dangerous organizations.

Defend Public Health joins Nurses for America,National Nurses United, the American Association of University Professors and many more organizations across the country to demand accountability from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE as the nation reels from another brutal murder at their hands, bringing the known 2026 death toll to 9. With a vote on funding bills coming soon in the U.S. Senate, we urge all of our members to call their senators today to urge them to block funding for DHS and ICE until measures are adopted to hold both accountable