First Lady's $12 Million CDC Immunization Earmark

Josh drops a bombshell in the Roosevelt Room negotiations: he stripped out this $12 million earmark, promised to the First Lady for CDC immunization education programs. Max explodes in anger, chasing Josh into the hall for answers. OMB aides witness the revelation, which underscores Josh's ruthless budget trades amid tense haggling over spending frameworks.

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S4E17 · Red Haven's On Fire

The $12 Million Trade — Pragmatism vs. Loyalty

The First Lady's $12 million CDC immunization-education earmark is the pivot of conflict — Max cites it as a promised fund and Josh announces it has been traded away. Dramatically it’s a small dollar figure that carries outsized moral and relational weight between administration political maneuvering and the First Family's expectations.

Before: Promised to the First Lady's initiative and understood by her office to be protected and earmarked for CDC immunization-education.

After: Removed from the budget submission or otherwise given up in a political trade — no longer secured, triggering potential fallout and the need to inform the First Lady's office.

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