The National Institutes of Health will be able to fund fewer research grants in fiscal 2026, even if Congress provides increased funding for the agency, due to Trump administration budget maneuvers.
The administration’s moves to front-load new grants, while possibly clawing back unspent funds and limiting facility and administration costs, all could suppress the NIH’s opportunities to fund research, according to members of Congress and supporters of the nation’s health research efforts.
These budget maneuvers come in addition to the harsh eye the second Trump administration has cast on the health research agency in its first year, including a proposed 40 percent budget cut for fiscal 2026, which Congress appears unwilling to abide.
