STAT+: NIH details how Trump budget would cut support for grants, training, and research centers
President Trump's 2026 budget proposes cutting NIH grants to universities, academic medical centers, and other institutions by 43%
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s 2026 budget proposes slashing the National Institutes of Health’s central function, supporting research by awarding grants to universities, academic medical centers, and other institutions, by 43% compared to 2025 levels. New documents released by the agency show an $11.6 billion cut in this funding, to $15.1 billion, which would both reduce the number of new grants awarded as well as existing grants for ongoing research. At many of the agency’s institutes and centers, grant applicants’ odds of securing new awards would plummet.
Support for the next generation of scientists would drop as well, with $655 million going to awards that support researcher training, $359 million less than in 2025. And the agency’s internal research wouldn’t be spared either, as the budget would set aside $3.6 billion for NIH’s own work, $1.3 billion less than current levels.
These details and others released this week as part of the agency’s Congressional Budget Justification shed new light on the administration’s plan to reduce NIH’s budget to $27.9 billion, a nearly 40% drop, and to restructure the agency’s 27 institutes and centers into eight. That plan must be approved by Congress, and NIH has historically enjoyed bipartisan support. But the new figures nonetheless triggered genuine concern and pushback from researchers and leaders of scientific organizations.
