News From The Hill

Congress began to actively push back on administration efforts to reorganize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and disrupt grant and program funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) led a group of thirteen Republicans that sent correspondence to the administration sternly asking that FY25 NIH funding be distributed as intended. Shortly after the letter was sent, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up its FY26 L-HHS Appropriations Bill and reported the measure out of committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. The Senate bill calls for increasing NIH funding by $400 million and level-funds nearly all other HHS programs while maintaining existing agency structure and line items. Moreover, the Senate bill includes policy riders that:

• Maintain the current approach for setting indirect costs (F/A) rates.
• Restrict the proposed use of multi-year funding for research projects.
• Object to the RIF and reorganization and encourage proper staffing to maintain existing functions.

The House Appropriations Committee was set to consider its FY26 L-HHS Bill ahead of the August congressional recess, but that markup was canceled and it is unclear if it will be rescheduled. The Senate FY26 L-HHS Appropriations Bills includes the following items of interest:

• $8.84 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), near-level funding from FY25.
• $9.15 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), near-level funding from FY25.
• $1.5 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, level funding from FY25.
• $7.43 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), near-level funding from FY25.
• $345.38 billion for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a slight decrease of roughly $14 million from FY25.
• $48.7 billion in total funding for the NIH, a roughly $400 million increase over FY 2025.
• $938.32 million for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), a proposed increase of $10 million over FY 2025.
  • $629.56 million for the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, a proposal level with FY 2025.
• $2.46 billion for the Office of the Director, a proposed decrease of $145.00 million below FY 2025, including $572.40 million for the Common Fund, a proposed decrease of $100.00 million below FY 2025.
• Detailed committee instructions on the IDeA CTR and the CTSA programs.

By: Dane Christiansen and Kira Flaherty, Washington Representatives (the Health and Medicine Counsel)