Trump Proposes Significant Cuts to NIH for 2021 Budget

The president’s request for next year’s federal budget includes a 7 percent drop in funding for the National Institutes of Health and reductions for other science agencies.

Written byJef Akst

| 2 min read

Save for Later

Listen with Speechify

0:00

2:00

ABOVE: WIKIMEDIA, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

In the 2021 budget request sent to Congress yesterday (February 10), President Donald Trump has requested that the National Institutes of Health’s budget drop from more than $41 billion this year to $38.7 billion, a 7 percent cut, and that the National Science Foundation’s budget drop by 6 percent to around $6.3 billion, Science reports.

Science advocates are not pleased. “The administration’s proposed budget cuts to research risk slowing our nation’s science just when it is reaping benefits for all Americans in the forms of better health, a stronger economy, a more sustainable environment, a safer world, and awe-inspiring understanding,” Sudip Parikh, the chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), tells The Washington Post.

Among other items on the chopping block, the number of new NIH research grants would drop, Ross McKinney, the chief scientific officer for the ...

Interested in reading more?

The Scientist ARCHIVES

Become a Member of

Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!

Join for free today

Already a member? Login Here

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.
View Full Profile