Since launching in 2003, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been central to global efforts to combat HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. For years, the U.S. Department of State routinely released PEPFAR data that reported on the number of people receiving lifesaving HIV treatment and prevention services, and how the program was being implemented around the world. Under the Trump–Vance administration, however, that transparency has abruptly stopped.
In December 2025, Democracy Forward submitted several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on behalf of Physicians for Human Rights and the Council for Global Equality (CGE) to the U.S. Department of State seeking critical data and planning documents related to PEPFAR for the Fiscal Year 2025. Unfortunately, the administration has continued to avoid transparency, and the Department failed to produce records or provide a lawful timeline for release as required by FOIA.
On February 11, 2026, PHR and CGE sought court intervention, filing a lawsuit to compel the Department to comply with the FOIA and release the requested data and documents. The plaintiffs are asking the court to order the State Department to conduct an adequate search, release all non-exempt records, and stop unlawfully withholding information.
Timeline
-
Complaint was filed
