Senate panel rejects Trump cuts to NIH, other health agencies
The White House budget called for slashing NIH by $18 billion, a decrease of 40 percent. Instead, the committee advanced the bill on a 26-3 vote, delivering a bipartisan rebuke of the administration's efforts to defund medical research.
'This committee has had multiple hearings over the last several months and heard from patients, families and researchers about the importance of NIH funding,' said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). 'This committee has, in a bipartisan manner, prioritized NIH and the research it supports to develop life-saving treatments and cures for devastating diseases.'
The committee rejected the administration's plan to revamp the way NIH pays universities, medical schools, and other research centers for overhead costs, as well as a proposal to restructure the agency and consolidate all 27 NIH institutes into eight new entities.
The bill includes a $100 million increase for Alzheimer's disease research, a $150 million increase for cancer research, and a $30 million increase for the Office of Research on Women's Health.
'To the scientists wondering if there will even be an NIH by the end of this administration: this committee's resounding message is yes,' said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the committee's vice chair.
'Congress has your back — we're not going to give up the fight against cancer, Alzheimer's, or rare diseases,' Murray said.
Democratic committee members also expressed frustration at the White House Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) repeated encroachments into the appropriations process and attempts to halt spending of money that was already approved by Congress.
Since President Trump took office, NIH has terminated or frozen nearly 5,000 awards totaling $4 billion, while another approximately $15 billion has not yet been obligated.
'Right now, they are illegally hiding apportionments data that would let us know whether funds we passed are being spent as intended and help us strengthen the bills we are in the middle of writing on. It is absurd we have to mark up bills, while being kept in the dark,' Murray said.
Murray and other members repeatedly mentioned an OMB memo from earlier this week that, through a footnote, abruptly prevented NIH from issuing grants. While the decision was reversed, Democrats said it showed the administration's disdain for congressional spending authority.
'One footnote, from an unelected bureaucrat — overruling Congress and even NIH, to block $15 billion in funding for things like cancer research,' Murray said.
Outside of NIH, the bill maintains flat funding for other health agencies and programs, including the Title X family planning program and domestic HIV prevention.
The bill also rejected the nearly $4 billion — or 50 percent — cut and consolidation to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention programs included in the White House budget request.
But looming over the process is the possibility of another rescissions package from the administration.
'Should the administration put forward a new rescissions package, in many cases, in our bill, we have rejected proposals that the President has made to make drastic cuts. That's Congress speaking up and saying we have a different position on that, and so I expect my Republican colleagues will stand by the decisions we've made,' Baldwin told reporters ahead of the hearing.
Still, the HHS budget is far from being final. The House has so far only passed two of its annual funding bills, and has not held an Appropriations Committee markup on its version of the HHS bill.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
29 minutes ago
- New York Post
India to maintain Russian oil import despite Trump threats, government sources say
India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite President Trump's threats of penalties, two Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday, not wishing to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. On top of a new 25% tariff on India's exports to the US, Trump indicated in a Truth Social post last month that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. On Friday, Trump told reporters he had heard that India would no longer be buying oil from Russia. 3 President Trump spoke with reporters before boarding Marine One on Friday. AP But the sources said there would be no immediate changes. 'These are long-term oil contracts,' one of the sources said. 'It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight.' Justifying India's oil purchases from Russia, a second source said India's imports of Russian grades had helped avoid a global surge in oil prices, which have remained subdued despite Western curbs on the Russian oil sector. Unlike Iranian and Venezuelan oil, Russian crude is not subject to direct sanctions, and India is buying it below the current price cap fixed by the European Union, the source said. The New York Times also quoted two unnamed senior Indian officials on Saturday as saying there had been no change in Indian government policy. Indian government authorities did not respond to Reuters' request for official comment on its oil purchasing intentions. 3 Russian President Vladimir Putin and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted each other at a meeting in New Delhi in Dec. 2021. AFP via Getty Images However, during a regular press briefing on Friday, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has a 'steady and time-tested partnership' with Russia. 'On our energy sourcing requirements … we look at what is there available in the markets, what is there on offer, and also what is the prevailing global situation or circumstances,' he said. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. INDIA'S TOP SUPPLIER Trump, who has made ending Russia's war in Ukraine a priority of his administration since returning to office this year, has expressed growing impatience with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks. He has threatened 100% tariffs on US imports from countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine. 3 An oil pump jack outside of Almetyevsk,Russia on July 14, 2025. REUTERS Russia is the leading supplier to India, the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer, accounting for about 35% of its overall supplies. India imported about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by sources. But while the Indian government may not be deterred by Trump's threats, sources told Reuters this week that Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil after July discounts narrowed to their lowest since 2022 – when sanctions were first imposed on Moscow – due to lower Russian exports and steady demand. Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, four sources told Reuters. Nayara Energy – a refinery majority-owned by Russian entities, including oil major Rosneft, and major buyer of Russian oil – was recently sanctioned by the EU. Nayara's chief executive resigned following the sanctions, and three vessels laden with oil products from Nayara Energy have yet to discharge their cargoes, hindered by the new EU sanctions, Reuters reported last week.
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Student-loan borrowers on Biden's SAVE plan are struggling to plan for higher payments: 'We're all in limbo'
Mary Smith is considering bankruptcy. "I don't have it," Smith said, referring to the extra money she would need to afford the higher student-loan payments she's facing in the coming year. "Everything we've done, we've done ourselves," Smith said. "Nobody handed me anything. I didn't grow up in a rich family. We live paycheck to paycheck, like most of the country." The 50-year-old nurse is enrolled in former President Joe Biden's SAVE plan, an income-driven repayment plan that offers cheaper monthly payments and a shorter timeline to debt relief. The plan is now on its last legs — it has been blocked since July 2024 due to legal challenges, and Trump's spending law eliminated the plan, replacing it with two less generous options that will go into effect next summer. In addition, the Trump administration restarted interest charges on SAVE balances on August 1 after a yearlong pause. This means Smith and the 8 million other borrowers enrolled in SAVE can either switch to a new plan and likely face higher monthly payments or remain on SAVE for now and watch their balances grow. Smith said that she asked her servicer for an estimate on her interest charges, and she was told it would be about $468 a month. "I did vote for Trump," Smith said, "I am a Trump supporter, but there are a couple of things I don't really agree with, and this is one of them." On the SAVE plan, Smith said her payments were around $150. Federal Student Aid's loan simulator predicted that her payments could surge to nearly $1,000 off the SAVE plan, which Smith said she "definitely cannot afford." Business Insider heard from dozens of student-loan borrowers enrolled in SAVE who are concerned about interest charges restarting and eventually having to move to a different repayment plan. Some borrowers are balancing their agreement with Trump that loans should be repaid with the reality of the financial strain that comes with losing SAVE. Linda McMahon, Trump's education secretary, said in a statement announcing the interest charges restart that the administration is focused on "strengthening the student loan portfolio and simplifying repayment to better serve borrowers." "As part of this effort, the Department urges all borrowers in the SAVE Plan to quickly transition to a legally compliant repayment plan — such as the Income-Based Repayment Plan," McMahon said. "Borrowers in SAVE cannot access important loan benefits and cannot make progress toward loan discharge programs authorized by Congress." Smith is hoping she'll be able to cover the interest charges, but she doesn't have a plan for potentially much higher payments down the road. "It's a struggle. I do agree we have to pay them, but it's really hurting us," Smith said. "It's a shame." 'A wait and see game' Justin Krull's goal is to pay off his student-loan balance. He was never trying to find a way out of repayment, and he wants a concrete plan to fit monthly student-loan payments into his budget. The constantly changing student-loan policies make that difficult. "We're not trying to cheat, we're not trying to not pay our bills," Krull, 42, told BI. "We want to take care of our responsibilities. We just want a system in place that we can rely on and be able to financially plan for our futures and endeavors that exist out there." Krull went back to school in his late 20s on the pre-law track with the goal of earning a law degree, but his priorities changed. He got married and had children, and once the pandemic hit, he lost his job as a retail manager and now works in operations at a factory. He said he qualified for $0 monthly payments on the SAVE plan, and he's been unable to get an estimate of his new payment on a different repayment plan. He plans to see how much interest starts building on his balance and determine at that point whether it makes the most sense for him to remain on SAVE and pay off the interest or take action to get on a new plan. Either way, the uncertainty is taking a toll. "At this point, I'm playing a wait-and-see game and making the move that makes the most sense financially once I can determine what those finances are going to be," Krull said. He added that he's worried he'll have to scale back on his retirement and health savings should his payments surge. Alannah is in a similar boat. Working in public health, she said the SAVE plan halved her payments from around $800 a month to just over $400, which allowed her to put more money into savings and put a down payment on a house. The uncertainty with SAVE has been frustrating, she said, because she planned her budget around her lower monthly payments. Additionally, she heeded the administration's advice and submitted an application to switch to an income-based repayment plan earlier this year, but she said the application is still processing, keeping her in limbo. The Department of Education also posted a notice that loan forgiveness through IBR plans is paused to comply with a court order. Alannah said she plans to hold off on making any student-loan payments until she has certainty that the plan she is on will count toward debt relief. She said that if she paid off her loans aggressively, she would run through her savings — and be left with nothing for retirement. 'Everything right now is backlogged' The changes to SAVE come as the Department of Education itself is undergoing a major overhaul. Trump signed an executive order earlier this year to begin dismantling the department, and the Supreme Court recently ruled that the agency can proceed with firing 1,400 workers, about half of its staff. McMahon said following the ruling that it was "a significant win for students and families" and allows the department the " authority to make decisions about staffing levels, administrative organization, and day-to-day operations." Still, it leaves the department with fewer resources to manage major tasks, including creating a new repayment system and processing millions of borrowers' applications. It has Holly Atkinson, a 57-year-old nurse who voted for Trump, concerned. "It's such a hot mess over there," Atkinson told BI. "Everything right now is backlogged as it is, and if they lay off these people at the Department of Education, it's going to make the situation worse." Atkinson said she was enjoying low monthly payments on the SAVE plan before it was blocked. With her repayment future up in the air, she's now unsure if she'll ever be able to retire with student loans hanging over her head, while also managing a separate private student-loan balance and mortgage payments. "I just feel like it's a weight on my shoulder that's never going to get lifted," she said. "And I see people my age planning to retire and go on vacations and travel, and I don't see any of that happening for me." The department said it would be communicating with SAVE borrowers over the next few months regarding their options to switch to a new repayment plan. Atkinson wishes there was more clarity upfront. "I don't regret voting for him, but what I'm seeing right now makes me very uncomfortable," Atkinson said. "We're all in limbo right now, and I don't like being in limbo."
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Trump suspends tax exemption for cheap shipments
President Donald Trump last week suspended a global trade loophole allowing smaller parcels into America duty-free. This closes a backdoor into the United States for Chinese mega-shippers like Shein and Temu, who could potentially pass the cost of those duties down to consumers. Trump eliminated the so-called 'de minimis exemption,' which had admitted duty-free shipments of goods worth $800 or less into the United States. Giant e-commerce sites used the loophole when shipping hundreds of millions of packages to US consumers. The administration did away with the exemption for goods coming out of China and Hong Kong in May amid the US-China trade war. This latest move extends that to every country around the world. Trump said in an executive order issued on Wednesday that 'many shippers go to great lengths to evade law enforcement and hide illicit substances in imports that go through international commerce' and the risk of 'evasion, deception, and illicit-drug importation are particularly high for low-value articles that have been eligible for duty-free de minimis treatment.' This is more bad news for Chinese retailers and their customers because it shuts down the option of re-routing small shipments duty-free through countries like Vietnam, which is facing a tariff rate of 20%. The executive order also demands that the origin of the package must be declared to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Temu and Shein had already started stockpiling goods and bulk-shipping to US warehouses to lower shipping times. Hours after the de minimis exemption expired for China in early May, Temu announced it was overhauling its shipping model. It said it would send out all American orders via US-based distributors, adding that its 'pricing for US consumers remains unchanged.' But some of Temu's American buyers subsequently complained of higher prices and items were quickly out of stock. Companies also will eventually need to restock their warehouses, and 'by imposing (the suspension of de minimis) for the whole world, there is no other workaround,' Chris Tang, a professor of global supply chain management at the University of California, Los Angeles, told CNN. Companies will now have to pay a hefty import tax even if they ship in bulk, which means customers may eventually have to pay more. The suspension of de minimis will also affect the millions of sellers on Amazon Haul, a discount competitor to Temu and TikTok Shop. Amazon and Temu have not responded to CNN's request for comment. Last week's repeal will affect a massive amount of packages that Americans are accustomed to receiving duty-free, the sheer amount of which has grown exponentially over the past decade. CBP previously told CNN it processes 'nearly 4 million duty-free de minimis shipments a day.' Research indicates that a majority of those shipments come from China and Hong Kong. In total, over the last fiscal year, CBP said 1.36 billion packages came to the United States under the de minimis exemption. When Trump's executive order goes into effect on August 29, most goods shipped internationally will be subject to the tariffs of the country of origin. Those duties will be about $80 per item for a country with a tariff rate less than 16%, $160 per item for a country of a tariff rate between 16% and 25%, $200 per item for a country with a tariff rate above 25%. Some of that cost could be passed down to consumers. Lower-income households will suffer the most from higher prices on Chinese e-commerce sites. About 48% of de minimis packages were shipped to America's poorest zip codes, while 22% were delivered to the richest ones, according to research in February from UCLA and Yale economists. The Trump administration had first slashed the de minimis exemption on China in May, but then cut the tariff on those cheap packages from 120% to 54%. There is also a $100 flat-fee option for those goods. A federal trade court this week declined to block Trump's elimination of the de minimis exemption on goods from China because the issue is already covered in a broader case challenging Trump's tariff policies. As part of Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' the de minimis rule was slated for repeal on all countries in July 2027. It even established a civil penalty up to $10,000 for more than one violation of the rule.
