1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

I urge you to reject the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 NIH budget, which would reduce the agency's funding to levels last seen more than two decades ago. This devastating cut, paired with major operational changes including consolidation of Institutes and Centers, would undo decades of bipartisan progress in biomedical research, including the successful effort under President Clinton and a Republican Congress to double the NIH budget in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The proposal's one-size-fits-all approach to facilities and administrative payments, reducing federal indirect cost reimbursement to a flat 15 percent rate, is unsustainable and ignores how medical research has been supported for the past 80 years. More concerning is the plan to eliminate or consolidate various NIH Institutes and Centers, including changes to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Lumping children's health research into a larger institute focused on multiple populations would further dilute the focus on pediatric research, which is essential not only for children but also for understanding adult chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease that have roots in early life. These dramatic funding cuts will drive our best researchers to leave the country when their labs, research positions, and studies lose funding. The NIH is a massive economic engine for the United States, and funding dramatically fewer projects will result in America losing its scientific and technological lead in the world, particularly as China increases its research investments. Reduced NIH funding means fewer medical discoveries, treatments, and therapies for all Americans. If Congress is interested in restructuring the NIH, any changes should follow the model of past successful reforms like the 2006 reform law and the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, which involved thorough, transparent studies with all stakeholders through appropriate Congressional committees. I strongly urge you to reaffirm robust full funding for the NIH with transparency and stringent peer review maintained.