AAMC Issues Statement on House L-HHS Spending Bill

The House Appropriations Committee amended (PDF) and voted 35-28 along party lines on Sept. 9 to advance the fiscal year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Act (PDF) and an accompanying report (PDF). Following the committee vote, AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD, and Chief Public Policy Officer Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP, issued a statement expressing appreciation for the committee's efforts to preserve medical research funding supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), while urging lawmakers to reverse harmful cuts to other critical health and education programs in the bill, reject restrictive policy provisions, and ensure the fully and timely use of appropriated resources to support public health, innovation, and workforce development.

The legislation would provide $46.9 billion for the NIH, a $99 million (0.2%) increase over FY 2025. The bill and report include provisions that would limit animal research, facilities and administrative cost support, fetal tissue research, and gain-of-function research.

The bill would cut a number of other agencies and programs, including providing $945 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a $555 million (-37%) cut, and providing $7.4 billion in total funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a $1.7 billion (-22.9%) cut below the comparable FY 2025 funding level. The bill would also eliminate funding for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Moreover, the bill would eliminate funding for two of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs: the Nursing Workforce Diversity program and Nursing Faculty Loan Program. In the bill's accompanying report language, the committee also acknowledged the administration's proposed incorporation of HRSA into a new Administration for a Healthy America and expressed that it looks forward to working with the authorizing committees of jurisdiction in consideration of the proposal.

The Department of Education would receive $67 billion, $12 billion (-15%) less than FY 2025, including a $1.4 billion (-6%) cut to the Office of Federal Student Aid.

The House Appropriations L-HHS Subcommittee advanced the bill following a Sept. 2 markup [refer to Washington Highlights, Sept. 5], and the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the bill with bipartisan support in July [refer to Washington Highlights, Aug. 1]. With none of the 12 annual spending bills yet signed into law, lawmakers likely will need to pass a continuing resolution to keep the federal government operating past Sept. 30 while negotiations continue.