Trump Signs Budget Law Restoring NIH and CDC Funding

Donald Trump signed a bipartisan budget law that restores funding for federal health agencies, rejecting his own 2026 proposal to cut biomedical research by half and dismantle centers within the CDC and the National Institute of Mental Health. The law provides $20 billion more for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) than the president originally requested and requires the Department of Health and Human Services to fully staff and fund specific centers.

Senator Tammy Baldwin helped author the legislation with detailed instructions to prevent the executive branch from acting unilaterally. She sought to rein in an agency she characterized as having "gone rogue" regarding personnel and the use of appropriated funding. Senator Patty Murray defended the funding levels as a victory for protecting cancer and opioid research, though she expressed doubt that the bill alone would stop Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s attacks on the health system.

Despite the restored funding, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya are redirecting funds to align with the "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. Millions have been shifted toward autism studies, while support for research on transgender people and health disparities related to race or gender has been cut. Bhattacharya is also moving funding away from elite coastal universities, such as Harvard and Stanford, toward underfunded institutions in the American heartland to combat "scientific group think" and address rural chronic diseases.