WATCH: Senator Baldwin Presses NIH Director on Trump Admin Cutting 2,000 Grants

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) questioned National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya in front of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on the Trump Administration's massive cuts to lifesaving research into cures for cancer, Alzheimer's disease, ALS, and more. Dr. Bhattacharya and the Trump administration implemented a misguided multi-year funding policy that resulted in the NIH funding 2,000 fewer grants than the previous year. Senator Baldwin questioned Dr. Bhattacharya on the multi-year funding scheme that resulted in these deep cuts that shortchanged researchers and slashed the number of projects funded last year.

NIH has historically funded more than 80 percent of its research grants on an annual basis. Many NIH grants are awarded for 3- to 5-year research studies, but the funding is provided to institutions one year at a time. This is common practice in many federal grant programs, and at the NIH, it means that the agency can stretch it's $48 billion budget to support as many research studies as possible in a given year. However, last year, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought directed NIH to begin multi-year funding significantly more of its grants, a goal of 50% starting in Fiscal Year 2025 and 100% in Fiscal Year 2026. This policy shift would mean funding multiple years of a research study up front in one lump sum and would tie up billions of research dollars for years, ultimately cutting the number of projects NIH could fund by the thousands. Indeed, implementing this approach in FY2025 resulted in NIH funding 2,000 fewer grants. That is 2,000 fewer opportunities to find new treatments and cures for diseases millions of American families face.

Senator Baldwin, Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS), led the bipartisan government funding bill for Fiscal Year 2026 that not only rejects the catastrophic 40% cut to NIH proposed by President Trump, but provides a $415 million increase for NIH with targeted investments in research for cancer, Alzheimer's disease, ALS, women's health, and more. The bill includes a new provision, spearheaded by Senator Baldwin, that prevents the Trump administration from implementing this multi-year funding scheme that is significantly cutting the number of research grants NIH awards.

Senator Baldwin also pressed Dr. Bhattacharya on the Trump administration's political interference at NIH, and the impact it is having on scientific leadership and ultimately the research that is funded. More than half of NIH's 27 Institute and Center Director positions are currently vacant. Over the last year, the Trump administration has pushed out 12 NIH Institute Directors and Dr. Bhattacharya has ended a longstanding practice of including external scientists in the search committee process for recruiting the best and brightest leaders to fill these critical leadership positions, since they have the final say in which grants are funded. Senator Baldwin expressed concern about maintaining scientific integrity in NIH's funding decisions, and ensuring that Institute Directors are the best, most qualified leaders in their fields. The LHHS bill includes a new requirement, spearheaded by Senator Baldwin, that all NIH Institute Director search committees include external scientists and stakeholders with relevant expertise.

A full video of Senator Baldwin's questions is available here.

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