Fourteen Republican senators have written an urgent letter to the White House demanding the release of delayed National Institutes of Health funding. The senators are concerned about what they call “the slow disbursement rate” of NIH money that Congress approved in a March spending bill signed by President Donald Trump.
Senator Katie Britt of Alabama is leading this effort. She chairs the Senate Appropriations homeland subcommittee and organized the letter with thirteen of her Republican colleagues. The letter was sent on Friday to White House Budget Chief Russ Vought, asking his Office of Management and Budget to fully carry out the government funding package from earlier this year.
The Republican senators warned that holding back these funds “could threaten Americans’ ability to access better treatments and limit our nation’s leadership in biomedical science.” They also said the delays “risk inadvertently severing ongoing NIH-funded research prior to actionable results.” This shows growing Republican pushback against the Trump administration’s pattern of withholding money that lawmakers have already approved for specific purposes, as Trump continues to face criticism for his handling of various crisis situations.
Republicans worry about medical research being cut short
The NIH is the country’s top funder of medical research. The senators made it clear they support responsible use of NIH money and don’t want funds going to what they called “ideological or unaccountable programs.” They expressed confidence in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and NIH director Jay Bhattacharya, despite ongoing controversies surrounding various Trump administration appointments.
The senators said their shared goal is to “restore public trust in the NIH precisely because its work is focused on results, accountability, and real-world impact.” However, they argued that withholding the approved funds would hurt that trust and slow down progress on important health issues facing the country.
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Report: A group of 14 “Republican” senators have signed onto a letter pushing President Trump to spend NIH money faster.
The list of the 14 senators: Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Thom Tillis, Lindsey Graham, Todd Young, Shelley Moore Capito, Jerry Moran, Susan Collins,… pic.twitter.com/Vd3jkt8vH1
The letter emphasized that this issue is ultimately about finding cures and seeing medical breakthroughs through to completion. The senators stressed that withholding or suspending these funds would put that goal at risk and damage trust in the NIH’s work.
Several high-ranking Republican senators signed the letter, including Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins of Maine. Other signers include appropriations subcommittee chairs like Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Jerry Moran of Kansas, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Additional signatures came from Senators John Boozman of Arkansas, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and Todd Young of Indiana.
The University of Alabama is a major recipient of NIH funding and serves as the top employer in Britt’s home state, which may explain her particular interest in ensuring these funds are released quickly. The senators’ letter represents a rare instance of Republican lawmakers publicly challenging the Trump administration’s handling of approved government spending, showing potential cracks in party unity that have emerged before on his platform Truth Social.
