COSSA’s Analysis of the FY 2027 House LHHS Appropriations Bill for Federal Science Agencies

On June 9, the House Appropriations Committee advanced its version of the fiscal year (FY) 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations bill, which provides annual appropriations for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Education, Department of Labor, and other agencies. This is the latest bill advanced by the Committee as part of Chairman Tom Cole’s (R-OK) plan to consider all 12 annual spending bills by the July 4 break. While the Senate was scheduled to begin marking up their bills this month, more pressing issues delayed the chamber which postponed its bills indefinitely.

The House bill is a mixed bag for the science agencies important to the COSSA community. This year, the Committee rejects the President’s proposals to reduce the NIH budget by more than 10 percent and cut CDC by nearly half. The bill again rejects Trump’s plan to reorganize the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); the President’s FY 2027 budget request included an extensive reorganization of HHS introducing new entities (e.g., Administration for a Healthy America) and consolidating several agencies. Still, the House proposal includes a significant cut for the Institute of Education Sciences and other agencies and programs. 

Now that we are heading into the summer months, there will be far fewer days for lawmakers to work on FY 2027 funding legislation before the start of the new fiscal year on October 1. With August recess and the November midterm elections looming, Fiscal Year 2027 is all by certain to begin under a continuing resolution (CR). The details of such a funding patch remain far from decided at this point.

Read on for COSSA’s analysis of the House LHHS appropriations bill and how it compares to the President’s budget request and current funding. Text of the bill and accompanying report is available here.

Stay tuned to COSSA’s coverage for the latest developments.