Republican senators on the Senate appropriations panel pushed back on President Trump’s proposal to cut NIH funding and broadly reorganize HHS, suggesting the administration’s health budget blueprint may again face steep resistance on Capitol Hill. The dispute centers on plans to shrink core health agency spending and restructure HHS under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For health systems, the fight matters because NIH funding supports academic medical centers and clinical research infrastructure. Appropriators are expected to draft spending bills that could preserve much of NIH’s budget and curb the proposed reorganization, setting up another confrontation over 2026 health funding priorities.
