Senate Republicans Warn Against Grant Terminations at NIH

Six Republican Senators penned a letter to Trump Administration officials last month raising concern about “the potential effects of terminating ongoing, multi-year research grants after significant federal resources have already been invested,” specifically at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Instead, the letter, which is signed by Sens. David H. McCormick (R-PA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Steve Daines (R-MT), asks that efforts be made to modify funded projects that may not currently align with Administration priorities to “help advance the Administration’s objectives while preserving the value of taxpayer investments already made.”

Sen. McCormick also authored an op-ed in the Washington Post last month calling for a redoubling of the NIH budget over the next five years among other reforms.