U.S. · Donald Trump · Ars Technica
"Sabotage": Experts, lawmakers blast RFK Jr. for destroying healthcare research
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The federal agency tasked with studying ways to improve America’s outstandingly poor healthcare system is “on the brink,” experts warn.
Key facts
- Although Congress appropriated $345 million for the 2026 fiscal year, much of it has gone unspent, with only $15 million going to grants so far
- More than 100 research grants collectively worth over $250 million have been canceled
- During Trump’s second term, DOGE cuts led to the firing or retirement of an estimated 75 percent of the AHRQ’s staff
- Last week, 30 Democratic senators sent a fiery letter to anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F
Summary
Whether the agency “will survive the second Trump administration is an open question,” health policy experts Aaron Carroll and David Atkins wrote in an opinion piece published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The agency in question is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which has focused on ways to improve patient safety, healthcare quality, care delivery, and new technologies and practices since the 1990s. During Trump’s second term, DOGE cuts led to the firing or retirement of an estimated 75 percent of the AHRQ’s staff. Although Congress appropriated $345 million for the 2026 fiscal year, much of it has gone unspent, with only $15 million going to grants so far. In addition to the losses in data and research findings, Carroll and Atkins lament the loss to the scientific community.