WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) today voted to advance the nominations of Kari Lake to be Ambassador to Jamaica and Doug Mastriano to be Ambassador to Slovakia in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after the administration gave him assurances that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding that has already been appropriated by Congress will be obligated and released in line with Congressional intent.

Sen. Cornyn successfully secured the following commitments from the Trump administration:

• Spending plans for FY25 and FY26 PEPFAR funds, including a timeframe for future awards to faith-based organizations;
• A guarantee that the more than $270M planned transfer from the U.S. State Department to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be completed;
• And a confirmation that all unobligated PEPFAR funds expiring in September will be obligated as expeditiously as possible and include appropriate notification to Congress.

Background:

PEPFAR is a public health initiative started under President George W. Bush in 2003 that has saved millions of lives since its inception and has received bipartisan support for more than two decades. Sen. Cornyn last year secured a commitment from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his nomination hearing to support and strengthen the program after its success in the first Trump administration. Congress appropriated more than $10 billion for this program between FY25 and FY26. However, PEPFAR funding appropriated in FY25 has been obligated at slower rates than previous years.