Back to School, Back to Congress
Kids of all ages are heading back to classrooms and many parents are, if they haven’t already, dropping off their college-aged kids. The National Retail Federation estimates that Americans will spend $39.4 billion on back-to-school shopping for children K-12 and an astounding $88.8 billion on shopping for college students, for a grand total of $128.2 billion. For perspective, that total could cover the FY25 budgets for the NIH, ARPA-H, CDC, FDA and NSF combined, with dollars to spare. Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t about school-related needs but it shows it only takes ‘cents’ to support research.
CDC Upheaval: News broke yesterday that CDC Director Susan Monarez has been fired just one month after being confirmed by the Senate. Her abrupt dismissal by the administration is coupled with the resignations of at least three other leaders at the CDC. These developments are linked to concerns about vaccine policy and broader questions about public health decision making. The CDC is our 24/7 public health defender, so these developments are deeply disturbing to say the least. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is slated to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4. Surely, questions about the developments at the CDC will arise during his appearance. Stay tuned.
Supreme Court Rules on NIH Grants: Late last week, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward in canceling $783 million in NIH research grants tied to DEI initiatives, overturning part of a June ruling by the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. The Supreme Court left intact another part of the lower court’s ruling, which deemed that the internal NIH guidelines used to make the terminations are illegal. The Supreme Court considered the issue of the internal NIH guidance and the individual canceled contracts separately. For the individual contracts, the Court sided with the government due to the government facing “harm” if the funds “cannot be recouped” and said that these individual cases should be reviewed by the Court of Federal Claims. The implications of this consequential and complex ruling are not yet fully clear, and we will keep you updated as analysis continues.
On the Hill: Congress is back in session next week. We expect the House Appropriations Committee to move quickly on the remaining spending bills not yet passed out of committee, including markup. (Markup is when a committee formally debates, amends, or replaces its bill before it moves to the House or Senate floor.)
The House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (Labor-HHS) Subcommittee, which is responsible for allocating funding for NIH, CDC, AHRQ, and other research and public health agencies, is scheduled to have its markup on Tuesday, Sept. 2, with the full committee markup of the bill tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9. Once the bill receives approval from the full committee, it will be reported to the House floor. On the Senate side, the Labor-HHS markup was passed out of committee on July 31 and is waiting for a vote on the Senate floor. Here’s a chart that includes the Senate’s funding numbers. Once both bills are passed, negotiations can begin between the House and Senate ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. (We by no means rule out failure to act before that deadline, with continuing resolution and/or government shutdown also possible.) Check here for a quick refresher on the annual appropriations process.
Don’t just watch this process, let your representatives know your views! Which brings me to…
Reaching the Hill: This is the last week of our August Advocacy Challenge! Don’t forget to track your progress on your scorecard. Please email your scorecard to Trent Carlson by Tuesday, Sept. 2. Top point earners will win prizes!
This week’s featured action: Email this action alert to your members of Congress. For additional points, share your story about why medical research matters to you. Use our advocacy toolkit for tips, scripts, and other additional resources to help tell your story.
Lights, Camera, Advocacy: The deadline to submit a short video about why medical research is important to you is Aug. 31. Review this guide and upload your video through our Google form.
If you do not have a Google account, follow the instructions here to email us your video. Your video could be featured on Research!America’s social media, in advocacy materials, or as part of a community compilation video.
Regulations and Research: While we all acknowledge that regulations are needed to ensure research is conducted ethically and in the public’s best interest, excessive policies and regulations can hamper progress. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is hosting a virtual public release event on Sept. 3, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET to discuss its new report, “Simplifying Research Regulations and Policies.” The report provides options to improve regulatory efficiency. Register here.
Science Philanthropy: The Science Philanthropy Alliance just released its 2025 Science Philanthropy Indicators Report, which gives a detailed view of the important impact philanthropic giving has on U.S. research. One quick takeaway: it is clear that while philanthropy is a vital driver of medical and health research, it can’t possibly offset the cuts to federal science agencies that have been proposed by the administration this year. This is another reason why it is essential for our champions to support the more robust numbers proposed in the Senate.
Register for the National Health Research Forum: Please join us! On Sept. 3, we will host two virtual early career researcher sessions to kick off our 2025 National Health Research Forum: The Pulse of Progress. These discussions are designed to equip the next generation of health research leaders with career-building skills.
In addition, join us for another virtual session on Sept. 10, as well as an in-person event on Sept. 17. You can register here! Thanks to our generous sponsors, there is no charge to attend.
Interested in partnering with us for this event? Check out sponsorship opportunities here or contact Kristen Furlong.