NEW YORK — The top Democrat in the Senate said Sunday he will work to block a plan that would significantly slash the proposed budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warning that such a cut could be dangerous for the public.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told the Associated Press he would block Senate passage of a bill if it included the proposed cuts.
Democrats said the proposal would be in a House Bill includes a $1.8 billion, or about 22%, cut from the CDC’s proposed budget, which would be detrimental to public health. The Republican-led effort would also mean deep cuts to programs designed to address firearm injuries and opioid overdose prevention.
The Republican-led House Budget Committee approved the measure in July on a party-line vote.
Schumer said such a reduction would “wreak havoc and chaos on the financing mechanisms for food security and on the oversight of activities at the grassroots level.”
He specifically pointed to the CDC’s work on the ongoing outbreak of listeria food poisoning in connection with Boar’s Head Deli Meats, which killed at least three people and sickened more than 40 others.
“A 22% reduction in CDC guidelines at a time when we have a listeria outbreak should be of concern to all of us,” Schumer said in an interview.
Boar’s Head recalled 7 million pounds of deli meats on July 30, expanding an earlier recall issued on July 25, after a liverwurst sample collected by health officials in Maryland tested positive for listeria. The CDC said last week that health officials in New York tested a liverwurst sample and confirmed the same strain of listeria.
The recall involves more than 70 products, including liverwurst, ham, beef salami and sausage, made at the company’s plant in Jarratt, Virginia.
If the measure passes, it could jeopardize the federal government’s “overall food safety apparatus.”
“It’s devastating,” Schumer said. “The Senate will not tolerate them.”