President Trump is expected to release his proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2019 on Feb. 12, 2018.  The ATS has learned that the budget will propose a funding reduction of 30 percent for the NIH for 2019 and significant reductions for other programs of interest to the ATS such as the CDC and the EPA, though details on these programs have not been released. While a proposed NIH cut of this magnitude is alarming and a bad step for the Trump Administration, it is important to note that the President’s budget is the first stage in the lengthy annual spending process and it is Congress, not the administration, that allocates spending for all government programs.  The NIH has broad bipartisan support in both the Senate and House so we expect the Congress to soundly reject this proposed NIH reduction, just as the President’s proposed 19 percent NIH funding cut was rejected in FY2018. We will provide analysis of the President’s budget proposal in next week’s Washington Letter.