Senators Warn NIH Budget Cuts Risk Public Health in Heated Hearing

Swift Summary

• Event: U.S. National institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jayanta Bhattacharya was questioned by senators during a June 10, 2025, Senate Appropriations committee hearing regarding research-grant terminations, delays in funding, and proposed 2026 budget cuts.
• Proposed Cuts: President Trump’s budget proposal includes a drastic 40% cut to the NIH’s funding and consolidation of its 27 institutes into just eight.
• Opposition: Scientists, patient advocates (including Alzheimer’s researchers), and lawmakers voiced strong objections to the cuts, arguing they would impair critical research efforts.
• Staff Dissent: Over 300 NIH employees submitted a “Bethesda Declaration,” criticizing leadership for prioritizing political agendas over scientific independence. the letter protests canceled projects on politicized topics like COVID-19 biology and vaccine hesitancy studies without clear rationale.
• Director’s Defense: Bhattacharya defended his leadership by stressing the need for reform at NIH, aiming to focus on reproducibility in research and addressing autism causation per administration priorities.
• Political Dynamics: Differences emerged across party lines-some Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the proposed cuts despite Congress being more aligned with trump than before.
• Senators’ Concerns: There were claims that decisions about terminated projects might be influenced by external sources like billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency; Bhattacharya clarified such changes were jointly made with administration inputs.

image: here.