Move to Slash Scientific Research Institutions Funded by the National Institutes of Health is in Direct Violation of the Law
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s Administration is imposing a new policy to cap indirect costs for National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants at 15 percent, which would cut billions of dollars in funding for life-saving research to develop cures and treatments for diseases. Under the leadership of House Appropriations Committee and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, Congress enacted a provision that has been included annually in appropriations bills since 2018 that explicitly prohibits any Administration from making these changes.
“Once again, President Trump and Elon Musk are acting in direct violation of the law. In this case, they are causing irreparable damage to ongoing research to develop cures and treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, ALS, Diabetes, Mental Health disorders, opioid abuse, genetic diseases, rare diseases, and other diseases and conditions affecting American families,” said Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro. “The Trump Administration is attempting to steal critical funds promised to scientific research institutions funded by the NIH, despite an explicit legal prohibition against this action.”
In 2017, the first Trump Administration proposed to cut funding for NIH research by approximately $6 billion, or nearly 20 percent. President Trump’s proposal would have cut funding for cancer research by nearly $1 billion and imposed across-the-board cuts to every other area of life-saving research. Not surprisingly, the proposal was met by universal opposition, including opposition by Republicans as well as Democrats.
On October 24, 2017, the House Appropriations Committee held a congressional hearing on the topic of cuts to NIH-funded research institutions. The Committee invited experts from across the country—including Oklahoma, Connecticut, California, and the State of Washington—representing a range of research institutions that conduct biomedical research. In their congressional testimony, these experts laid out in meticulous detail the shared costs, known as “facilities and administrative (F&A) costs,” that are associated with world-class research that makes the United States the global leader in developing cures and treatments for diseases and other health conditions. These shared F&A costs are a necessary component of any world-class research program. They include costs for laboratories, scientific libraries, equipment, maintenance, utilities, security, and support staff. These are shared research costs that are not covered by funds provided in an individual research grant.
As a result of this congressional hearing, the House Appropriations Committee collaborated with the Senate Appropriations Committee—both Democrats and Republicans—to add a new provision to the annual appropriations bill that funds the National Institutes of Health. The new provision explicitly prohibited the Administration from imposing changes to NIH’s existing policy to fund F&A costs at research institutions. The provision has been included annually in appropriations bills since 2018. The current provision reads as follows:
“SEC. 224. In making Federal financial assistance, the provisions relating to indirect costs in part 75 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, including with respect to the approval of deviations from negotiated rates, shall continue to apply to the National Institutes of Health to the same extent and in the same manner as such provisions were applied in the third quarter of fiscal year 2017. None of the funds appropriated in this or prior Acts or otherwise made available to the Department of Health and Human Services or to any department or agency may be used to develop or implement a modified approach to such provisions, or to intentionally or substantially expand the fiscal effect of the approval of such deviations from negotiated rates beyond the proportional effect of such approvals in such quarter.”
“Based on this legal statute, which is clear and unequivocal, Musk and the Trump Administration are prohibited from implementing its new policy to cut funding for biomedical research that was approved by Congress.It is my expectation that a federal judge will block the Administration’s most recent illegal action,” DeLauro continued. “President Trump is taking an axe to our efforts to find cures to diseases and disorders that are tearing apart families across the country. President Trump and Elon Musk’s proposal to cut billions of dollars for research institutions will cost lives and put the United States on a path to decline. They must immediately reverse this unlawful policy.”
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