The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.

The headlines have been disturbing: “Trump has quietly throttled an agency devoted to the safety of American healthcare” (Kaiser Family Foundation) and “Healthcare agency stops dozens of research grants” (NYT). The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is in the crosshairs of Trump.

Wisconsin Democratic Senator Bill Proxmire helped lay the foundation for AHRQ. The Washington Post editorialized: “The agency (AHRQ) is one of the few institutions … that does regular, neutral investigations of best medical practices. Yet it is a tiny agency, by federal government standards, and lives under the shadow of budget-cut threats” (2005).

The above headlines make clear that the threat is now an ominous reality. Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, a leading Senate authority on healthcare, stepped up. Baldwin mobilized 29 of her colleagues to demand that Trump “rescind cancellation of lifesaving research grants that improve patient safety and care.”

Baldwin’s press release said: “On July 15, 2026, approximately 150 AHRQ grantees received a generic form letter notifying them that their grants were canceled, effective immediately, including funding for a project in Wisconsin” (looking at how AI could be used to improve safety for hospitalized children). Baldwin challenged the Trump administration’s unconstitutional directive blocking spending approved by Congress: “We want to be clear: Democrats and Republicans did not work together to appropriate funds for AHRQ as a gentle suggestion … . We provided this money with the explicit instruction that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) faithfully support life-saving research to improve access and health outcomes for Americans.”

I know something about AHRQ and its track record because I am married to Doctor Carolyn Clancy, “nationally recognized leader in patient safety and quality” (MedPage Today). Clancy was AHRQ’s Director from 2002 – 2013 under Presidents Bush and Obama. She was first appointed by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and reappointed under Obama with the support of Wisconsin Democratic Representative Dave Obey. Thompson, Obey and Clancy agreed: “Preventing patient harm from medical care should never be a partisan cause” (MedPage Today).

In an op-ed, Clancy and Boyce Ginieczki, senior legislative leader at AHRQ until 2025, said: “We’re former AHRQ leaders. Patient Safety must never be partisan. … Americans understandably worry about affording healthcare. But they should also be concerned about its safety. … medical errors are estimated to be the third leading cause of death behind only heart disease and cancer. … Cancelling AHRQ grants disrupts promising research and careers, which may ultimately affect patient outcomes” (MedPage Today).

Baldwin is also fighting Trump’s efforts to reduce healthcare coverage. Three million Americans, including 45,576 Wisconsinites, lost Affordable Care Act (ACA) private insurance coverage between 2025 and 2026. Why? Trump and the GOP-led Congress repeatedly refused to extend enhanced ACA tax credits, thereby making insurance unaffordable. Many millions more will lose coverage because of other draconian cuts in Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill. The only way to reverse this engineered cruelty is to vote Democratic in November. The GOP is no longer the Grand Old Party.

Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995 – 2009.