Protesters decrying delays to funding in the battle against HIV/Aids charged into a congressional hearing where the Trump administration’s budget czar, Russell Vought, was testifying in Washington on Wednesday.
The demonstrators disrupted the proceedings on Capitol Hill and twice brought the hearing to a halt.
The Trump administration has slashed global aid, including the US President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), which was created by George W Bush when he was president, and enjoys bipartisan support in Congress. Lawmakers funded Pepfar with $4.6bn this year. But activists say the majority of payments are still not going out to organizations in the field.