"In May 2025, the White House proposed reducing the budget of the National Institutes of Health by roughly 40%-from about $48 billion to $27 billion. Such a move would return NIH funding to levels last seen in 2007. Since NIH budget records began in 1938, NIH has seen only one previous double-digit cut: a 12% reduction in 1952. Congress is now tasked with finalizing the budget ahead of the new fiscal year, which begins October 1."
"Such proposals tend to resurface from time to time, and the ongoing discussion has created uncertainty about the stability of research overall and prompted concern among scientists about the future of their work. As researchers studying complex health policy systems-and specifically, science funding policy -we see the NIH as one node in an interconnected system that supports the discovery of new knowledge, trains the biomedical workforce, and makes possible medical and public health advances across the U.S."
A May 2025 proposal would reduce NIH funding roughly 40%, from about $48 billion to $27 billion, returning funding to 2007 levels. Congressional action in July and early September instead rejected the proposed cuts and moved to preserve or modestly increase current funding. Proposals to cut NIH recur periodically and create uncertainty for research stability and scientists' careers. NIH funding underpins discovery, workforce training, preventive health research, and the knowledge base for biomedical product development. Evidence indicates that short-term budget savings from cuts can trigger downstream effects that raise long-term healthcare costs and slow development of new treatments and public health solutions.
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