President’s 2027 Budget Request Woefully Inadequate for Medical Research, Innovation
Arlington, Va. – Research!America, a nonprofit alliance that advocates for science, discovery, and innovation to achieve better health for all, is deeply disappointed by President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request to Congress today. The president’s proposal would be a giant step backward for American health and innovation.
“While the president’s budget request would bolster funding for AI and other technologies, it unfortunately would allow China and other competitors to do an end run around the U.S. as we abandon our lead in the sciences,” said Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley. “From cutting biomedical research at NIH to slashing other STEM funding at NSF, this budget would make our 250th year one of restricting, rather than realizing, our full potential.”
“The American people recognize the power of R&D investments,” said Woolley. “In fact, 7 in 10 Americans say Congress should invest more taxpayer dollars to advance science and technology in the U.S. Adding urgency to the point is data released earlier this week showing that China has officially surpassed the U.S. in R&D spending. If that isn’t a wake-up call, then I don’t know what is.”
NIH
The administration seeks to slash $5.7 billion from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) exclusive of ARPA-H, a cut of more than 12% to the nation’s premier health research agency. The proposal would cut the ARPA-H budget by $555 million or 37%.
Compounding these proposed cuts, the budget confirms the administration’s previously announced intention of moving to 100% multi-year funding (also known as “forward funding”) of new NIH grants. Without a corresponding increase in funding, changing to lump-sum funding of multi-year grants would plummet the number of grants NIH can support. Patients, local economies, and U.S. global competitiveness would pay the price for this dramatic contraction in our nation’s contribution to medical progress.
Furthermore, the proposal calls for the elimination or consolidation of a number of NIH Institutes and Centers, including the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), the Fogarty International Center (FIC), and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). On a positive note, the National Institute for Nursing Research is not proposed for elimination, as it was in the president’s FY26 budget request.
NSF
The budget proposal would slash the National Science Foundation’s budget by more than half, cutting the agency’s funding by approximately $4.8 billion.
Other Critical Research and Public Health Agencies
We are also concerned by the results for other key agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Health Research and Quality, which received significant cuts despite their fundamental importance to the health, safety, security, and fiscal stability of our nation.
Contact Katherine Broendel, Director of Communications, at 571-482-2719 or [email protected] with press inquiries.