Senate LHHS Subcommittee Holds NIH FY 2025 Budget Hearing

On May 23, the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee held a budget hearing on the National institutes of Health (NIH) fiscal year (FY) 2025 budget request. Witnesses included NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli as well as directors of the following NIH institutes and centers: National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute on Aging (NIA), and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The hearing focused on advancements in medical research and treatment on topics such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and drug addiction, with an increased interest in youth health and rural health.

In her opening statement, the Chair of the LHHS Subcommittee, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), highlighted the importance of meaningful, increased funding for the NIH to bolster U.S. competitiveness in research with international competitors, including China.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) raised concerns about the data collection process for medical research, to which Dr. Bertagnolli highlighted the importance of collecting data that is “good enough that we can make life-altering decisions based on it.” She continued to confirm that the NIH is working with various partners to improve their ability to harness real-world data. This was later affirmed by NIDA Director Nora Volkow as she discussed programs intended to provide community-specific interventions through working with them directly to collect data and implement intervention strategies.

Chairwoman Baldwin addressed rising concerns about the decreasing workforce in research, seeking to understand how the NIH intends to prioritize and incentivize future researchers. Dr. Bertagnolli addressed the difficult decision between funding more research with lower training stipends or less research with higher stipends. She also confirmed that these discussions are being held in virtually all NIH meetings and that, with increased funding, the NIH would have the potential to fully fund graduate researchers at the amount they have outlined in their budget request. To better understand the importance of finalizing the budget on time, Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) asked Dr. Bertagnolli to underscore the detrimental impacts of a continuing resolution (CR) on the NIH, in which Dr. Bertagnolli confirmed that without a final budget, strategic decisions are more difficult to make when planning for the year.

Lastly, Ranking Member Shelley Capito (R-WV) and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) both sought clarity for Congress and the American public on gain of function research, particularly related to the origins of COVID-19. Kennedy recommended the NIH provide clarity on gain of function research through either extended press conferences or a symposium for the public as well as an NIH-led symposium on what was learned from the pandemic. While this topic remains contentious for the NIH, the budget hearing was all-around supportive of the NIH and their research priorities.

The recording of the hearing can be found here. Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage of the Congressional budget process.