STAT+: Senators leave RFK Jr.’s MAHA agency out of 2026 budget in apparent snub

WASHINGTON — Senate appropriators seemingly snubbed an effort by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reorganize certain primary care and chronic health programs into a new agency known as the Administration for a Healthy America. 

Instead, a fiscal 2026 budget approved Thursday by senators on both sides of the aisle funds programs such as HIV/AIDs prevention and community health centers within their existing agencies. 

While the markup is just one step in a lengthy congressional budget process, the failure to recognize the AHA is a blow to Kennedy’s hopes of making the new agency the crown jewel of his massive department-wide reorganization plan. 

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