Trump 2021 Budget Proposes Deep Cuts to Health Research and Services Programs
On Feb. 10, 2020, President Trump released his proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021. The proposal includes some significant funding reductions to health research and services programs, including a proposed $3 billion cut to the NIH and a proposed $2.4 billion cut to the EPA.
The following are proposed reductions in the President’s FY2021 budget:
NIH
- A $3 billion cut from current FY2020 NIH funding of $41.6 billion to $38.6 billion. This proposed reduction of 7.2 percent would be distributed fairly equally across all NIH institutes, including the NHLBI.
- Proposal to shift the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) to NIH, along with a $90 million reduction from current funding of $445 million to $355 million.
- Priority NIH research areas for the Administration include opioids, influenza research, HIV, tick-borne disease research and pediatric cancer.
CDC
- A $693 million, or 9 percent, cut for the CDC, from current funding of $7.694 billion to $7 billion.
- The proposed elimination of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, currently funded at $230 million. This elimination was proposed in the FY2020 budget and was rejected by Congress.
- A $52.8 million funding cut to the CDC’s National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Similar cuts to NIOSH have been proposed in the last two administration budgets and Congress has rejected them.
- Elimination of the CDC’s $20 million for Climate and Health Program. This cut has been proposed before and rejected by Congress.
- A $5 million funding cut to CDC’s asthma program, from $30 million in FY2020 to $25 million.
- Flat-funding for CDC’s domestic TB program at $135 million.
EPA, VA Research and USAID TB
- A $2.4 billion, or 26 percent, cut to the EPA, reducing funding from the current $9.1 billion to $6.7 billion for FY2021.
- A $39 million funding increase for the VA Research program, from the current $750 million to $787 million.
- A $35 million funding cut to USAID’s global TB program, from the current $310 million to $275 million.
Both Republican and Democratic leaders on the Hill have received the President’s budget with little enthusiasm. Typically, the party of the President uses the Administration’s budget as a starting point for budget development and Congress then develops the actual spending bills. It’s fair to assume that party leaders on both sides will dismiss this budget and move forward to develop their own funding recommendations. The reality is that while a proposed $3 billion funding cut for NIH is a very disappointing step by the administration, Congress will likely reject this funding reduction just as it has with previous years’ budgets. Similarly, we expect that agency’s like the EPA and the CDC will not see the high level of cuts proposed by the Administration
Last Reviewed: February 2020
