New HHS document details deep NIH cuts as part of Trump budget request

The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday released a summary of President Trump’s budget request for the 2026 fiscal year that provides the most detailed look yet at how his administration hopes to reshape the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies.

The “budget in brief” document doubles down on a previous request to slash NIH’s discretionary budget to $27.5 billion, an $18 billion or nearly 40% reduction. It also details plans to consolidate the agency’s 27 institutes and centers into just eight. But while those plans were disclosed in previous documents that were leaked or shared publicly by the administration, Friday’s budget summary spells out more clearly precisely where these cuts would come from — and just how deep they will be. 

The president’s proposal would leave just three of the NIH’s current institutes intact: the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Aging. But that doesn’t mean these institutes would be spared. If enacted, Trump’s request would slash the budgets of NCI from $7.2 billion to $4.5 billion, NIAID from around $6.6 billion to $4.2 billion, and NIA from $4.4 billion to $2.7 billion.