President’s Proposed Budget Insufficient to Support Biomedical Research
“Today, the Trump Administration released a proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026 that cuts the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget by nearly 40 percent and the National Science Foundation (NSF) budget by 57 percent.
Without adequate funding for NIH, NSF and other agencies within HHS, research on chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes as well as rare genetic disorders will come to a halt and clinical trials will be disrupted or discontinued. As one example, these massive cuts will interrupt efforts to end the long and difficult journey for an accurate diagnosis for patients and families with undiagnosed genetic conditions. This drastic reduction in funding will result in lab closures and job losses and will have a profoundly negative impact on the health of our country and on local economies.
The net effect of these disruptions will also have a chilling effect on the next generations of researchers. It puts decades of scientific progress at risk and creates workforce instability that will dissuade early-career professionals from pursuing scientific careers in academia, industry, policy, and public service.
The budget proposal eliminates key areas of foundational research that drives advancements in human genetics and genomics which benefit all Americans. Just as critically, the United States risks falling behind globally in technology development, innovation, and other critical sectors. ASHG urges Congress to reject this proposal or risk losing the lifesaving research funded by these agencies.”