NIH Funding Cuts Set to be Rejected by Senate Appropriators

Citing Research and Innovation Priorities, Congress Pushes Back on Trump Administration

U.S. Senate Republicans appear ready to reject the White House’s proposed 40% cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget for fiscal year 2026, opting instead to maintain funding levels close to those enacted in fiscal year 2025. The administration’s proposal would reduce NIH funding to $27.9 billion for fiscal year 2026, down from $46 billion, and reorganize several of its institutes, from 21 centers down to eight. Lawmakers across both chambers have expressed strong opposition to the proposal, emphasizing the importance of sustained investment in biomedical research.

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who is leading Senate efforts to modernize the NIH and who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee stated recently, “If you want to control long-term health care costs, you’ve got to invest in basic research. I would authorize more money.” Senator Katie Britt (R-AL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and advocate for Alabama research institutions, added, “There’s always ways you can do things better and more efficiently […] but we also want to support finding cures and getting those cures to the American people.”

On the House side, Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL-04), Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education, emphasized bipartisan support for preserving NIH functions, explaining, “The goal is to try to get something that the administration is happy with, but at the same time, getting that past the House.”

Senate GOP Urges Action on Delayed Fiscal Year 2025 NIH Funding

In response to concerns over the continued delayed NIH funding distribution, 13 Republican senators led by Sen. Britt urged the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to release appropriated fiscal year 2025 funds as directed, warning that delays could “threaten Americans’ ability to access better treatments.” The senators expressed their confidence in Secretary Kennedy and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya’s ability to disburse funding in line with administration priorities around gold standard research.

The Current State of Play

On Thursday, July 31, at 9:30 a.m. ET, the Senate Appropriations Committee will meet for a full committee markup of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill which provides funding for HHS (including Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), NIH, etc.). The markup will also provide insight into the proposed reorganization of numerous HHS sub-agencies that was proposed in the President’s Budget Request to centralize the work of multiple existing federal agencies, including the Office of Assistant Secretary for Health; HRSA; SAMHSA; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the NIH; and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While the signs emerging from Congress are a positive development, this year’s appropriations process is decidedly more fraught than in previous years.  Already, the normally bipartisan Senate Appropriations Committee has seen partisan tempers flare over amendments (Commerce-Justice-Science) and disagreements over funding levels (Energy-Water) in other appropriations bills that have caused delays in the process. House appropriators have already moved several bills through committee against Democratic objections.

When Will We See Final Funding Levels?

While the markup hearing is a critical step in the appropriations process, House appropriators won’t mark up their own version of the bill until they are back from the August recess, less than 4 weeks until the end of fiscal year 2025 on September 30. As in years past, Congress will likely need to pass a short-term continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded through the beginning of fiscal year 2026 to avoid a government shutdown.

Lingering Democratic anger over the rescission of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and public radio funding, as well as the potential for additional rescissions packages from the White House, could act as a spoiler in the weeks ahead. Last month, President Trump’s OMB Director, Russell Vought, floated the possibility of using “pocket rescissions” in what remains of fiscal year 2025 to effectively block funding that Congress has already appropriated. This could further strain the appropriations process in Congress.

Funding Levels in a Complex Political Environment

An NIH expert in the McAllister & Quinn network cautioned that even if Congress ultimately maintains near-2025 levels for NIH, the agency may continue to struggle with obligating and disbursing funding as a result of recent layoffs and deferred resignations from the administration’s reduction-in-force (RIF) attempts, among other internal changes. If the appropriations process is delayed into the 2026 calendar year, the window to expend funding will shrink further, increasing the potential for the White House to attempt further rescissions or impoundments. The surprise July 29 announcement from OMB freezing $15 billion in NIH funding (which was quickly reversed after White House officials stepped in later that same evening) demonstrates how rapidly the political landscape can shift in this administration.

McAllister & Quinn tracks the full cycle of the appropriations process from the President’s Budget Request to final appropriations. We will continue to monitor developments in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, reporting out on markups, bill reports, and developments from the White House. For additional information on the NIH budget, please contact us below: