Chuck has a hard time with this proposition.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to block a Republican budget that would cut $1.8 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because of a listeria outbreak.
Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Sunday that the proposal would not come to fruition as long as he remains Senate majority leader.
“I’m here today, in the midst of active federal budget negotiations, to say that I will not let MAGA deli meats go to the CDC in the middle of this listeria outbreak in deli meats go through the Senate,” Schumer said.
Listeria linked to Boar’s Head deli meat has been detected in the Midwest and East Coast, according to the CDC. Of the 43 hospitalizations, at least four have been in New York City and at least two have been on Long Island. A total of 14 New Yorkers have been hospitalized, according to CDC data.
Three people have died from the outbreak, in New Jersey, Illinois and Virginia. A few New Jersey residents have also been hospitalized due to the outbreak.
Listeria is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, people over 65, or people with compromised immune systems. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, and fatigue and can develop at any time within two weeks of contact with the bacteria.
“New York is partly the epicenter of the disease with the listeria outbreak and so I asked the CDC to focus a task force here to deal with the situation and they did and I applaud their efforts and applaud that grueling work,” Schumer said.
The budget cuts Schumer discussed were included in a fiscal 2025 proposal from the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee. The committee approved the bill along party lines on July 10. It includes a 22% cut to the CDC’s budget, or about $1.8 billion.
Schumer noted that CDC funding allows the agency to track and contain outbreaks such as the current listeria problem. Boar’s Head recalled about 7 million pounds of deli meats on July 30, extending an initial recall from July 25. The outbreak was first detected in May.
With Congress currently in recess, budget negotiations are expected to become tense, with Republicans controlling the House of Representatives while Democrats hold a slight edge in the Senate. The process will also take place in the midst of a hotly contested presidential campaign between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
The CDC was far from the only organization targeted for budget cuts in the Republican proposal, which also focuses on the Social Security Administration and federal student aid programs, among other social agencies.
