A small minority of hard-right Republicans have brought the U.S. House of Representatives to an unprecedented standstill and heightened fears about whether political division will overwhelm the government’s ability to function. For the flagship U.S. global AIDS initiative PEPFAR, something about that sounds familiar.
For 20 years, PEPFAR was a rare bright spot of bipartisan support, holding together a diverse coalition of Christian evangelicals, AIDS activists, gay rights advocates, and politicians from across the political spectrum through successive Republican and Democratic administrations.
This year that coalition — like many others in American politics — has been tested, and it has yet to prove its durability. PEPFAR’s reauthorization, the legislation that gives legal standing to its funding and policy priorities, expired on Oct. 1, and advocates are still looking for a path forward that can either mollify or circumnavigate allegations by antiabortion groups that the program has been “hijacked.”