COVID-19 raises doubts about proposed federal budget cuts to global health, medical research. President Trump's budget request for fiscal year 2021, which begins October 1, would reduce funding for a wide swath of medical research and surveillance programs, including $3 billion less for U.S. State Department global health initiatives. The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, however, coupled with Congress's tendency to retool White House budget requests, puts many of these funding cuts in question. The Trump administration's proposal, submitted to Congress on February 10, touted "an economic boom the likes of which we have never seen before," including a historically low unemployment rate of 3.5%. A month later, the U.S economy was reeling from multiple pandemic ripple effects, and unemployment surged as businesses sent workers home to reduce contagion. The effectiveness of a $2 trillion economic rescue plan negotiated by Congress in late March remains to be seen. Specific reductions in the Trump budget proposal include the U.S. Agency for International Development (34%), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (16%), and the World Health Organization (50%). If approved, the National Institutes of Health would see $3 billion in cuts (7%), including $560 million less for the National Cancer Institute. Budget trims to Medicaid and Medicare are also proposed over the next decade though Congress's rescue package earmarks additional support for these programs in recognition of pandemic-related strains on the U.S. health care infrastructure.