Earlier this year, the Trump administration proposed in their budget request to Congress a 50% slash in funding to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and an $18 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The Senate Appropriations Committee flatly rejected this proposal with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.
Contrary to the Trump administration’s agenda, the bill restores funding to the CDC and actually increases funding for the NIH by 1%.
The bill rejects the administration’s intentions to reorganize the NIH and cap costs added to its grants. Alongside this, the bill maintains 27 NIH institutes, even though the administration planned on cutting that number to just eight.
The bill will advance to the Senate floor with a resounding vote of 26-3. It will need full approval by the Senate, and then it can go to the House of Representatives.
Senator Susan Collins (R), chair of the committee, remarked on the importance of this bill and claimed that it will strengthen the economy while providing stability for families.
“This bill prioritizes funding to help make Americans healthier and supports lifesaving biomedical research, including through targeted funding for Alzheimer's, cancer, Lyme disease, Parkinson’s, ALS, diabetes, and rare disease research,” Sen. Collins stated. “It also provides significant resources for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs to help combat the scourge of fentanyl and other illicit narcotics plaguing our towns and cities.”
Senator Jon Ossoff (D) was a part of this effort to reject the Trump administration’s budget request. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he voted to advance the bill and cited his commitment to the CDC and Georgians as to why.
Sen. Ossoff stated, “The budget request from the White House included a cut to the world’s preeminent epidemiological agency, this after the administration has attempted to fire approximately a quarter of the CDC’s workforce in recent months, … and I made very clear, that I would not accept the destruction of the CDC, and I am grateful that Republicans and Democrats on this committee are coming together to defend this vital institution based in the state of Georgia.”
