Democrats Condemn NIH-DOD Research Agreement

The Defense Department could tap up to $2 billion in federal research dollars designated for biomedical research, under an agreement signed with the National Institutes of Health. 

“As if cancelling lifesaving medical research and clinical trials and firing cancer researchers en masse were not bad enough, the Trump administration is now trying to rob NIH of billions of dollars that Congress provided for medical research so that it can pad the Pentagon’s budget,” said Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat who is the vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Congressional Democrats first released the news of the agreement, which was later obtained by The New York Times, Nature and other media outlets. An NIH spokesperson told Nature that the transfer “will only take place on a project-by-project basis, and all research will be within the scope of NIH’s mission. There is no blanket transfer of funds.” The aim is to send biodefense research projects at the infectious diseases institute to DOD, officials say. 

NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said on social media that no funds will go to the Defense Department this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

“Far from siphoning money away from research, this partnership between @NIH and @DeptofWar focuses on research projects that will drive discoveries to improve the health of American citizens and members of the military,” he wrote. “Led by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, all work will be 100% aligned with our public health mission.”