The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. Its grants support much of the basic science behind new drugs, cancer treatments and vaccines, and they pay for research at universities and hospitals in every state. For the second year in a row, the Trump administration has proposed deep cuts to the agency, and for the second year in a row, Congress appears unwilling to go along. Yet the number of new research grants has fallen dramatically, and scientists say the uncertainty is reshaping American research.
The budget fight
For fiscal year 2026, which ran from October 2025 through September 2026, the administration proposed cutting NIH's budget to $29.3 billion, roughly a 40% reduction. Congress rejected that request and instead gave NIH $48.7 billion, a $415 million increase over the prior level [1]. For fiscal 2027, the administration proposed a smaller but still substantial cut. Reporting by Roll Call before the budget's release described a reduction of about 20%, and the proposal would again consolidate parts of the agency [1]. According to Becker's Hospital Review, the request would eliminate three of NIH's 27 institutes and centers: the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Fogarty International Center, which supports global health research, and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health [2]. Lawmakers from both parties have pushed back. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, pointed to the increase Congress approved for 2026 and said her "views are very apparent on that" [1]. Congress also rejected the administration's attempts to cap the "indirect costs" that universities charge for overhead such as labs and utilities, and to fund multiyear grants up front [1].
A stopgap budget until December
As of early October, the 2027 budget fight is unresolved. In June, the House Appropriations Committee approved a funding bill for Labor, Health and Human Services and Education programs on a 34-28 vote. It would provide $189.3 billion in regular discretionary funding for those departments, about 2.9% less than in 2026 [3]. The Senate Appropriations Committee had not acted on its version as of September [3]. To avoid a shutdown when the fiscal year ended on September 30, Congress passed a continuing resolution, signed September 2, that funds the government, including NIH, at 2026 levels through December 11, 2026 [3]. The vote was lopsided, 90-6 in the Senate and 370-48 in the House [3]. That means another funding deadline will arrive shortly after the November midterm elections.
Grants are falling anyway
Even with Congress holding NIH's budget steady, the number of new research awards has dropped. According to data reported by The Washington Post and summarized by Becker's, NIH made 1,385 competitive grant awards in the first half of fiscal 2026, through March 31, down 54% from 3,024 in the same period of fiscal 2025 [2]. For comparison, NIH typically made about 4,600 such awards in that period each year from 2015 to 2018 [2]. The declines have hit some fields especially hard. Comparing 2024 with 2025, competitive awards from the National Institute of Mental Health fell 43%, from 965 to 546, while the National Cancer Institute's fell 15% and the National Institute on Aging's fell 17% [2]. Several factors explain the gap between flat budgets and falling grant counts. NIH has restructured how it distributes funding in ways that reduce the number of new grants in the short term and make funding decisions less predictable [2]. Advisory council meetings that approve grants were canceled or delayed, creating a backlog. And in 2025, the administration terminated or froze more than 1,800 grants, many tied to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, though many were later reinstated [1][2]. A STAT analysis published as fiscal 2026 ended found that NIH spent its full budget but continued reducing awards involving health disparities, race and ethnicity [4].
The workforce
The changes extend beyond grants. Becker's reports that federal science agencies lost about 15,000 STEM and health jobs between January 2025 and February 2026, and that NIH's science and health workforce shrank by about 17% over that period [2]. Researchers and university leaders have warned that early-career scientists, who depend most on new grants, are leaving research or considering jobs abroad.
The arguments
The administration argues that NIH needs reform: that its funding has been too concentrated at a small number of elite institutions, that overhead payments are too generous and that some research has strayed from the agency's core mission. Health and Human Services officials have said they want to direct more money toward chronic disease, replication of studies and early-career researchers, though the STAT analysis found limited progress on several of those goals [4]. Supporters of the traditional funding approach say that NIH research is a long-term investment that has produced decades of medical breakthroughs and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs. Public opinion appears to be on their side. A poll for the advocacy group United for Cures, conducted in March among 1,500 registered voters, found that 62% said the government spends too little on medical research and 8% said it spends too much. Support for NIH cuts among Republicans fell from 47% to 35% over the past year [1].
What happens in December
When the stopgap expires on December 11, Congress will have three main options: pass full-year spending bills, pass another continuing resolution or allow a shutdown [3]. A full-year bill would settle NIH's 2027 budget and could include instructions on how the agency distributes grants. Another continuing resolution would keep NIH at its 2026 level but continue the uncertainty that researchers say makes long-term planning difficult. The House bill's overall 2.9% reduction for Labor-HHS programs suggests that, even if Congress again protects NIH, other health programs in the same bill could face cuts [3].
Why it matters
NIH funding decisions rarely make headlines, but they shape what treatments exist a decade from now. The current situation is unusual: Congress, controlled by the president's own party, has repeatedly refused to cut NIH's budget, yet the agency is funding far fewer new projects. Whether that gap closes will depend on the December spending deadline, how NIH manages its new funding approach and whether the 2027 budget includes the agency restructuring the administration has proposed.
Sources
- 1. "Sources: White House to propose 20 percent cut to NIH funding," Roll Call, March 27, 2026. https://rollcall.com/2026/03/27/sources-white-house-to-propose-20-percent-cut-to-nih-funding/
- 2. "Federal research funding slowdown hits NIH grant pipeline: 4 notes," Becker's Hospital Review, 2026. htt ps://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/federal-research-funding-slowdown-hits-nih-grant-pipeline-4- notes/
- 3. Congressional Research Service, "Status of FY2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations: In Brief," R49344, September 8, 2026. https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R49344.html
- 4. "Analyzing FY 2026 NIH Grants: Budget Spent, But Uncertainty Lingers," STAT, as summarized in KFF Health News Morning Briefing, October 2, 2026. https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/friday-october-2-2026/ Information in this article is current as of October 10, 2026. Bracketed numbers refer to the sources listed above.