Life Science Funding Cuts Leaked

According to a document posted online less than a day before the release of the official 2018 budget proposal, the National Institutes of Health could face even deeper cuts than previously suggested by the Trump administration.

Written byJef Akst and Bob Grant

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WIKIMEDIAOn Monday afternoon, details of proposed cuts to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) appeared briefly online before being taken down—but not before screenshots were taken. The apparently leaked (or at least mistakenly posted) document detailed proposed cuts to HHS, including slashing the National Cancer Institute budget by $1 billion compared to the agency’s total 2017 budget and an overall cut of more than $7 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

This version of the Trump administration’s budget proposal will likely get a reception from science advocates and legislators on both sides of the isle that is just as icy as the reaction to the administration’s previous plan, released in March. “There’s no way Congress will take this seriously. Especially the NIH cut,” wrote Jennifer Zeitzer, a spokesperson for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), in an email to The Scientist. “Democrats and Republicans blasted the NIH cut when the ‘skinny budget’ came out in March, and this is actually worse, so I can’t imagine they will have anything nice to say about it.”

The latest budget proposal also suggests cutting several programs at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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