This is part two of a series on health care budget cuts.
The President’s Budget Requests Dramatically Reduce Biomedical Research
The president’s budget request was a major disappointment to those interested in medical research. So far, the administration has canceled grants, fired intramural researchers and planned to reorganize the National Institutes of Health. On May 30, the president’s requests sent to Congress cut funding for NIH, the National Science Foundation and other sources within the federal government important to the nation’s investment in biomedical research. A 2024 paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas demonstrated that rates of return on nondefense research and development spending range from 140% to 210%. The research community is concerned about not only the short term effects of the size of the spending cuts, but also the effect compounded over time.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
In 2024, NIH received $47 billion. The proposed budget cuts $17.9 billion from its overall budget and consolidates NIH’s 27 institutes and centers into eight and eliminates:
- The National Institutes for Nursing Research
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
- The Fogarty International Center
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Only three of the existing NIH institutes would remain as is although they would lose funding. The National Cancer Institute would be decreased to $4.5 billion; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases would be reduced to $4.2 billion and the National Institute on Aging would be reduced to $2.7 billion.
The remaining funding would go toward the consolidated institutes. However, the budgets for the new institutes would be less than the combined budgets of the institutes and centers that were consolidated. The budget would assume that indirect costs for entities receiving grants would be capped at 15% a marked change from the past. Both the reorganization plan and capping indirect costs have been subject to legal action.
NIH Consolidation of Institutes and Budget Request
| New Institute or Center
|
What It Includes
|
Budget
|
| The National Institute on Body Systems
|
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
|
$4.2 billion
|
| The National Institute on Neuroscience and Brain Research
|
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Eye Institute
|
$2.4 billion
|
| The National Institute of General Medical Sciences
|
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Library of Medicine, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
|
$3.7 billion
|
| The National Institute for Child and Women’s Health, Sensory Disorders, and Communication
|
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
|
$1.4 billion
|
| The National Institute of Behavioral Health
|
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health
|
$2.8 billion
|
National Science Foundation (NSF)
The president’s budget proposes cutting the National Science Foundation (NSF) by 57%. In FY 2024 NSF received almost $9 billion and the request would reduce this total to $3.9 billion. These reductions are largely made by eliminating or limiting federally funded STEM training. NSF would have $167.2 million to allocate towards scholarships and fellowships for STEM students and early career scientists. However, that is 65% less than in FY 2024. Additional funding for postdoctoral fellowships would be reduced by 91%.
The budget nearly eliminated the Research Traineeship program as would eight of the 10 postdoctoral fellowships.
Initiatives to support efforts to increase the participation of a wide range of individuals, institutions and communities in STEM fields would decrease from $1.6 billion to $171 million. Among the programs that would be zeroed out are
- Advancing Informal STEM Learning
- Computer and Information Science and Engineering Education and Workforce
- Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Programs that would remain, but will be reduced:
- Tribal Colleges and Universities Program
- HBCU Excellence in Research
- Innovative Tech Experiences for Students and Teachers
- Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
In the president’s request, NASA’s budget is reduced from $23.8 billion to $18.8 billion, approximately 25%. This is achieved by eliminating a total of 41 science projects that would eliminate a significant portion of NASA’s science portfolio. It also represents the largest single year reduction in NASA’s history.
Other Reductions of Note
- Approximately $12 billion from the Department of Education which includes a $532 million reduction to the Institute of Education Sciences and zeroing out many programs.
- Cuts in State Department educational and cultural exchange programs that include science and medical researchers.
