Budget deal adds $2 billion to NIH, going against Trump’s proposal
The federal spending deal Congress reached on April 30 includes $2 billion in additional funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for the next five months of the fiscal year, going in the opposite direction of President Donald Trump’s proposed $5.8 million cut to the agency for 2018.
As STAT News reports, the boost is in line with what NIH received in the 2016 budget and would help honor provisions in the 21st Century Cures Act. It may also illustrate the split between the administration and the majority in Congress on the importance of funding medical research, as members of both parties had opposed the 18 percent cut at NIH.
“The omnibus is in sharp contrast to President Trump’s dangerous plans to steal billions from lifesaving medical research, instead increasing funding for the NIH by $2 billion,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said in a statement.
The spending deal also includes a total of $800 million to fight opioid abuse.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.