Gutted NIH: $18B in Cuts, 7,800+ Grants Cancelled
The administration cut NIH's budget by 40%, cancelled 7,800+ research grants, and eliminated 25,000+ researcher positions. A judge blocked the indirect cost cap, noting "the imminent risk of halting life-saving clinical trials."
The Trump administration proposed cutting the National Institutes of Health budget by approximately 40% — from roughly $45 billion to $27.5 billion — while consolidating its 27 research institutes into just 8. Over 7,800 NIH grants were cancelled or suspended in 2025, along with nearly 2,000 NSF grants.
The damage to American scientific research was devastating:
- Over 25,000 scientists and researchers lost positions across federal science agencies
- Cancer clinical trials were disrupted or halted
- Multi-year research infrastructure projects were abandoned
- The GAO found that from February to June 2025, NIH released $8 billion less than obligated, violating the Impoundment Control Act
A federal judge granted a nationwide injunction on March 5, 2025, blocking the administration's attempt to cap indirect research costs at 15% — a policy that would have devastated research universities. The judge cited "the imminent risk of halting life-saving clinical trials."
The cuts represented the most severe assault on federally funded scientific research in American history, ceding U.S. leadership in biomedical innovation to China and other competitors.