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DC Health warns of federal grant volatility and potential $9M FY26 cut
Summary
Director Ayanna Bennett told the Council’s Committee on Health that federal grant instability threatens tobacco, disease investigation and HIV programs and could create a roughly $2.3M local staffing pressure in FY26; she said some grants have been reissued but gaps remain.
Director Ayanna Bennett told the Committee on Health on Feb. 20 that FY25 brought both planned agency advances and abrupt federal shifts that complicate DC Health’s budgeting. She identified tobacco control, disease investigation, HIV prevention and epidemiology services as among the grant streams most at risk and said the agency is planning for the possibility of a roughly $9,000,000 federal reduction in FY26, creating an estimated $2,300,000 local staffing pressure.
"So some of the things that were cut, as far as we know, are tobacco, disease investigation, HIV, and some of our other epidemiology related services," Bennett said in her opening testimony. She added that the agency has been asked to reapply for some funds and that even successful reapplications may result in smaller awards or timing gaps: "There will likely be some gaps, even if we get the money back." The director said DC Health is hedging where possible and planning for worst-case scenarios while hoping for the best-case outcomes from federal award processes.
The agency’s chief operating officer, Michelle Blake Smith, described the workforce implications and reiterated that a substantial portion of DC Health staff are federally funded (a reported federal-to-local funding ratio of roughly 3:1). Committee staff and members pressed for clarity on which grants and how many FTEs would be affected; Bennett said end dates for many grants fall this spring to early summer and promised follow-up detail. The committee urged transparent communication with grant-funded employees and requested updated lists of at-risk streams and affected positions.
What happens next: DC Health will follow up with the Committee with more detailed counts of federally funded positions and a list of grants with pending decisions. Council members requested agency notices be shared promptly to avoid sudden disruption for employees and service providers.
