WASHINGTON — The Trump administration released its proposed 2026 budget on May 2, which includes a proposal to restructure federal wildland firefighting responsibilities and make significant cuts to several health agencies.
Under the fiscal year 2026 plan, the administration is seeking to consolidate wildland fire management functions — currently divided between five agencies across the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) — into a new Federal Wildland Fire Service housed within DOI.
The proposed agency would assume firefighting duties currently managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. The budget describes the current division of responsibilities as “dispersed,” resulting in “coordination and cost inefficiencies.”
The new service would operate independently from existing firefighting agencies, with its own command structure and appropriations. The Trump administration says the move would improve operational efficiency, strengthen coordination with non-federal partners, and enhance response to what the budget calls a growing “wildfire crisis.”
While the proposal highlights support for operational efficiency in wildland fire response, it also includes notable reductions in public health funding, including funding for agencies that have historically supported firefighter health and safety initiatives.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would see its discretionary budget authority reduced from $127 billion in FY2025 to $93.8 billion in FY2026 — a $33.3 billion cut, or 26.2% decrease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would face a cut of approximately $3.6 billion, with the elimination or consolidation of several public health programs. The budget calls for scaling back CDC’s focus to “emerging and infectious disease surveillance, outbreak investigations and maintaining the Nation’s public health infrastructure.”
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would be reduced by approximately $18 billion, with the elimination of multiple research centers and calls for the restructuring of NIH into five new institutes. The administration cited concerns about NIH’s oversight, research direction and spending priorities.
The proposal is subject to debate and approval by Congress, where lawmakers will determine which provisions are adopted in the final budget.
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