Trump Terminated All Members Of HIV/AIDS Council Without Explanation

Jenna Amatulli
Updated

The White House has fired the members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA), the council’s executive director, Kay Hayes, confirmed to HuffPost on Friday.

The council, which still had 16 members, was completely dismissed with a letter sent through FedEx on Wednesday, the Washington Blade first reported.

“Current members of Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) received a letter informing them that the Administration was terminating their appointments” on Dec. 27, 2017, Hayes told HuffPost in a statement sent via email.

“They were also thanked for their leadership, dedication and commitment to the effort. Changing the makeup of federal advisory committee members is a common occurrence during Administration changes,” the statement read.

Six members of the council had earlier resigned in June due to “a president who simply does not care,” according to one member in a Newsweek op-ed entitled “Trump doesn’t care about HIV. We’re outta here.”

A red ribbon in recognition of World AIDS Day hangs from the North Portico of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Photo: SAUL LOEB via Getty Images)
A red ribbon in recognition of World AIDS Day hangs from the North Portico of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Photo: SAUL LOEB via Getty Images)

One source with knowledge of PACHA told the Washington Blade that “many council members were terminated even though additional time remained on their terms as advisers.”

PACHA is a federal advisory committee created in 1995 with the goal of “providing information, advice, and recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services regarding programs, policies, and research to promote effective treatment, prevention, and cure of HIV disease and AIDS.”

As of September, President Donald Trump signed an executive order renewing PACHA for an additional year so the move to fire the current council without explanation seems brash. One of those members ― Gabriel Maldonado, CEO of the Riverside, Calif.-based LGBT and HIV/AIDS group Truevolution ― told the Washington Blade, however, that “it is common for appointees to be terminated and for folks to kind of want their own people in.”

“I think where the discrepancy comes in is why a year later, No. 1? Two, many of us, our terms were over earlier this year and we were sworn back in, and three were stayed on nearly four months after an executive order was signed continuing the council,” he said.

Also of note, during the Obama administration, nearly all of George W. Bush’s appointees were eliminated prior to new appointees being named.

The current administration has not appointed a director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, a major reason contributing to the June resignation of the six members of PACHA. Additionally, the ONE Campaign released a report earlier this year on the potential impact of the White House’s proposed $800 million cut to HIV/AIDS efforts. The cut would slash the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief by 17 percent and gut global health programs by $2 billion, according to CBS News. The impact would be so great that AIDS experts and advocates predicted to the publication that it would “upend progress on curbing the epidemic.”

On World AIDS Day, the Department of Health and Human Services published a notice in the Federal Register inviting nominations of members to serve on PACHA. The council can have up to 25 members and nominations are due no later than 5:00 p.m. (EST) on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

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8:10 AM: Amersfoort, The Netherlands

Eliane Becks Nininahazwe: On my way to Den Haag [The Hague] to get my visa so I can travel to Burundi, where I will provide HIV education to the indigenous Batwa people.
Eliane Becks Nininahazwe: On my way to Den Haag [The Hague] to get my visa so I can travel to Burundi, where I will provide HIV education to the indigenous Batwa people.

9:30 AM: Baltimore, Maryland

Mark S. King: My dear friend Edwin J. Bernard, an HIV criminalization reform advocate, visited me from England. I am grateful that HIV activism has brought me such wonderful friends.
Mark S. King: My dear friend Edwin J. Bernard, an HIV criminalization reform advocate, visited me from England. I am grateful that HIV activism has brought me such wonderful friends.

11:11 AM: New Orleans, Louisiana

Eryck Dillard: I took this picture in my office. Though I’m not living with HIV, I can directly relate because this is my community, A day has never gone by that I haven’t fought for my brother, sisters, and gender non-conforming persons who are living with HIV. This is our movement and this is our liberation!
Eryck Dillard: I took this picture in my office. Though I’m not living with HIV, I can directly relate because this is my community, A day has never gone by that I haven’t fought for my brother, sisters, and gender non-conforming persons who are living with HIV. This is our movement and this is our liberation!

12:38 PM: Los Angeles, California

Damone Thomas: As an HIV counselor, a typical day with HIV is preparing the testing lab and being equipped with information for clients: how they can reduce their risks without shame or discrimination in an effort to lower the transmission of HIV and other STIs, and if they are positive, to get them linked to treatment and care immediately.
Damone Thomas: As an HIV counselor, a typical day with HIV is preparing the testing lab and being equipped with information for clients: how they can reduce their risks without shame or discrimination in an effort to lower the transmission of HIV and other STIs, and if they are positive, to get them linked to treatment and care immediately.

3:00 PM: Atlanta, Georgia

Shyronn: Homework time for my kindergartener.
Shyronn: Homework time for my kindergartener.

3:00 PM: Seattle, Washington

Anthony Adero Olweny: Being a peer navigator living with HIV, living with HIV is almost like a day-to-day testimony that HIV treatment works.
Anthony Adero Olweny: Being a peer navigator living with HIV, living with HIV is almost like a day-to-day testimony that HIV treatment works.

3:00 PM: Washington state

Maggie: I want to post something upbeat for A Day with HIV but for me, I feel loneliness and fear... In the small pockets of time when I get to connect with my positive community, I feel love and acceptance, but those times are so few and far between.”
Maggie: I want to post something upbeat for A Day with HIV but for me, I feel loneliness and fear... In the small pockets of time when I get to connect with my positive community, I feel love and acceptance, but those times are so few and far between.”

4:22 PM: San Francisco, California

Jésus Guillen: As an HIV-long term survivor, I have many beautiful moments, but also some very painful ones. Every day, learning to live and enjoy the moment; a moment after that, I never know. For the instant, a jump of life.
Jésus Guillen: As an HIV-long term survivor, I have many beautiful moments, but also some very painful ones. Every day, learning to live and enjoy the moment; a moment after that, I never know. For the instant, a jump of life.

5:35 PM: Manila, Philippines

“Yomi”: After a long counseling session with a client, the day is finally over. Living with HIV does not stop with your diagnosis, especially if you want to make a difference, like helping at a treatment facility. Give hope to those who are newly diagnosed.
“Yomi”: After a long counseling session with a client, the day is finally over. Living with HIV does not stop with your diagnosis, especially if you want to make a difference, like helping at a treatment facility. Give hope to those who are newly diagnosed.

5:42 PM: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Andrena Ingram: A lot has happened in a year. I had a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted and am currently living with a heart performance percentage of 20%. My church closed its doors due to financial issues, and I am currently adjusting to living a new normal. I just came from a morning of hanging out with a friend. I’m contemplating the future possibility of a mechanical heart. They don’t do heart transplants on persons with HIV.

6:00 PM: Miami, Florida

Alessandro Pino, Andre Ampudia, Matthew Phelps, Andres Sosa, Yoel Moreno, Nicholas Ferrera, and Alejandro Suarez (not shown) of Latinos Salud: HIV doesn’t discriminate; good thing pizza doesn’t either!
Alessandro Pino, Andre Ampudia, Matthew Phelps, Andres Sosa, Yoel Moreno, Nicholas Ferrera, and Alejandro Suarez (not shown) of Latinos Salud: HIV doesn’t discriminate; good thing pizza doesn’t either!

6:00 PM: Doha, Qatar

David Duran, 37: Eight and a half years HIV-positive, 8 years undetectable, and 5 years since I made a life change, quit my job, and began traveling full-time as a freelance writer. I’ve now been to more than 70 countries and all seven continents, and nothing, including my HIV status, is going to slow me down.
David Duran, 37: Eight and a half years HIV-positive, 8 years undetectable, and 5 years since I made a life change, quit my job, and began traveling full-time as a freelance writer. I’ve now been to more than 70 countries and all seven continents, and nothing, including my HIV status, is going to slow me down.

6:31 PM: Brooklyn, New York

Lillibeth Gonzalez: Diagnosed 25 years ago. Out and about in Brooklyn, enjoying the wonderful weather. Informing people about preventative measures: PrEP, PEP, antiretrovirals, staying undetectable, and healthy with HIV. I’m unstoppable. #Undetectable for 10 years.
Lillibeth Gonzalez: Diagnosed 25 years ago. Out and about in Brooklyn, enjoying the wonderful weather. Informing people about preventative measures: PrEP, PEP, antiretrovirals, staying undetectable, and healthy with HIV. I’m unstoppable. #Undetectable for 10 years.

8:28 PM: New York, New York

Charles Sanchez: At a rehearsal studio in Manhattan, after a day of meetings and rehearsals for season 2 of my HIV-positive musical comedy web series, "Merce." I take a moment to reflect on how full my life is. Full of creativity, friends, family, music, laughter, and joy. HIV wasn’t invited to my party, but since she’s here, I make that bitch dance!

8:34 PM: Long Beach, California

Michael Buitron: The group hug at the end of Support Positive, a newly diagnosed drop-in group I’ve been doing at The LGBTQ Center Long Beach for six years. Two new participants today, along with new disclosures in a room full of non-judgmental, supportive peers.
Michael Buitron: The group hug at the end of Support Positive, a newly diagnosed drop-in group I’ve been doing at The LGBTQ Center Long Beach for six years. Two new participants today, along with new disclosures in a room full of non-judgmental, supportive peers.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.