White House · Donald Trump · US Congress · Axios
Research advocates prepare for next NIH budget fight
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Medical research advocates are bracing for a grinding election-year fight over the future of the National Institutes of Health with the expected release of the Trump administration's FY 2027 budget Friday.
Key facts
- Congress the last time around rejected Trump's plans on a bipartisan basis and increased the NIH budget by $415 million for 2026, to $48.7 billion
- Medical research advocates are bracing for a grinding election-year fight over the future of the National Institutes of Health with the expected release of the Trump administration's FY 2027 budget
- Congress rejected the steep 40% cut the administration proposed for NIH last year, but the biomedical research institution continues to feel fallout from canceled grants, layoffs and a slower pace
- Trump's budget is expected to reheat much of last year's debate, though advocacy groups don't expect it to call for as big a cut
Summary
Congress rejected the steep 40% cut the administration proposed for NIH last year, but the biomedical research institution continues to feel fallout from canceled grants, layoffs and a slower pace of getting money out the door to academic researchers. Trump's budget is expected to reheat much of last year's debate, though advocacy groups don't expect it to call for as big a cut. "The president has said he wants to make America healthy again. These things are only possible if you increase the funding of the NIH," said Russ Paulsen, executive director of United for Cures, a network of patient advocacy groups. His organization preemptively released polling this week finding 66% of voters opposed a hypothetical 20% cut to federal medical research funding.