Brief NIH funding halt sparks backlash

Editor's Note

The Trump administration paused new NIH research grants and contracts, prompting widespread concern before abruptly reversing course, according to a July 30 article in Forbes.

Citing a separate report in STAT, the article details how the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed the NIH to suspend new funding—including grants, contracts, and training awards—through a four-sentence email citing a funding footnote. The pause applied to external funding recipients as well as internal NIH spending, blocking purchases and travel until the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30. 

According to Forbes, researchers awaiting new or renewed NIH awards faced immediate uncertainty. NIH’s ability to use Congressionally allocated funds was curtailed, with no clarity from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or NIH about how long the restriction would last. If funds remained unspent past the September 30 deadline, they would automatically revert to the U.S. Treasury.

The article notes that this raised questions about whether the administration was circumventing Congress’s budget authority. Senator Patty Murray’s office estimated that up to $15 billion in NIH funds could be affected. NIH employees were also impacted, facing restrictions on basic operational spending.

The decision drew swift condemnation from lawmakers and advocacy groups. Murray called the pause “outrageous” and warned of consequences for medical research and patient care. According to the article, the administration reversed the pause after receiving this backlash. OMB Communications Director Rachel Cauley later described the pause as a “programmatic review,” but provided no specifics.

As detailed in the article, NIH-funded research plays a critical role in addressing diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular conditions, and infectious threats. The author argues that these efforts have widespread implications for public health and the economy and decisions affecting this funding should not be politicized.