Untangling the grant cancellations, the court case, and the Trump budget proposal 

There’s been a lot of noise about recent cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Some of it’s true. Some of it’s proposed. Some of it got overturned.  

Here are just the facts on what’s actually going on.
 

What Is the NIH? 

The NIH is the main federal agency responsible for funding medical research in the U.S. It supports over 80% of federally funded biomedical research, backing more than 50,000 competitive grants each year. These grants go to universities, hospitals, and labs working on everything from cancer treatments to mental health to infectious disease. 

The NIH spends over $30 billion per year on research grants. Their work has led to the mRNA technology in Covid vaccines, hepatitis C treatments that have cured 10 million people across the globe, and mapping the human genome – which has transformed everything from rare disease diagnosis to targeted drug development. 

NIH Funding Is Flat 

The NIH’s budget has not been cut – although some NIH programs could be impacted by ongoing litigation (more on that below). 

Like all other federal government agencies, Congress sets the NIH’s budget during the annual appropriations process. For fiscal year 2025, Congress gave the NIH the same amount of money as they did in 2024: $47.3 billion.  

Adjusting for inflation, NIH funding has been effectively flat since fiscal year 2022. No major increases, but also no across-the-board cuts. That’s important context. 

Some NIH Grants Canceled 

Earlier this year, the Trump administration tried to cancel about $12 billion in NIH grants, targeting programs they said were politically motivated or ineffective. 

The cuts mostly hit: 

  • DEI-focused research 
  • Climate and gender health studies 
  • Projects on vaccine misinformation 

For scale: the NIH gives out around $36 billion in grants every year. So these cancellations affected about one-third of NIH grants. 

The NIH Court Ruling 

In June, a federal court found that the administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act by canceling grants without proper justification or process. 

But the ruling only applied to the $3 billion in grants that were challenged in court. That means roughly $9 billion in grants remain paused or canceled, including: 

  • $18 million in HIV prevention grants 
  • $2 billion in diabetes prevention programs with DEI components 
  • A tuberculosis trial in Haiti that was cut mid-study, leaving patients without follow-up   

Proposed NIH Budget Cuts 

In their 2026 budget proposal, the White House suggested slashing NIH funding by nearly 40%, down to $27.9 billion. This is part of a broader push to reduce non-defense discretionary spending and refocus federal research. 

But for now, it’s just a proposal. Congress ultimately decides what the NIH budget will be – and there’s already bipartisan opposition to cuts.  

Republican senators like Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, and Dave McCormick have all spoken out against the cuts. Democrats have, too. 

What’s Not Behind the Potential NIH Cuts 

There are a couple of things in the news right now that aren’t responsible for the recent NIH funding fights but are easy to mix up. 

  1. The One Big Beautiful Bill 

You may have seen headlines about the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB), the massive tax and spending bill that included many of President Trump’s top legislative priorities.  

But it doesn’t touch NIH funding. The OBBB was passed through the reconciliation process, a special process where it couldn’t be filibustered in the Senate. But the reconciliation process comes with strict rules about what can be included in the bill, and NIH funding didn’t make the cut.  

  1. The Rescissions Package 

The Senate is currently debating a rescissions package, basically a bill that would claw back unspent federal funds from prior legislation. Much like reconciliation, rescissions bills can’t be filibustered in the Senate. 

But this specific package doesn’t affect the NIH. The bill is pretty narrow, focusing on making some Department of Government Efficiency cuts permanent, reducing foreign aid, and defunding NPR and PBS. 

What to Watch Next 

The biggest fight is still ahead. Congress has until September 30 to pass a budget for 2026 or pass a short-term extension to avoid a government shutdown. 

That’s when we’ll find out whether the proposed NIH cuts become reality, whether canceled grants stay paused, and how much influence the courts – or Congress – will ultimately have on the direction of U.S. medical research. 

Until then, the NIH’s budget is unchanged.