In response to House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee rejection of President Trump’s proposed 40 percent cut to funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in fiscal year (FY) 2026, AAI President, Dr. Uli von Andrian, released the following statement:
The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) thanks the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee for its decisive rejection of the administration’s proposed 40 percent cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in its FY 2026 funding bill. This stands as a strong affirmation of the foundational role NIH plays in fueling medical discovery and advancing public health.
However, the Subcommittee’s bill provides roughly flat funding for both NIH and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). It also includes a significant cut of $555 million to the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). These funding levels fall far short of AAI’s recommendation of an appropriation of $51.3 billion (from $47.1 billion in FY 2025) for NIH and $1.7 billion (from $1.5 billion in FY 2025) for ARPA-H for FY 2026, levels of investment that would enable these agencies to flourish and help uphold the United States’ leadership in immunology and biomedical research.
AAI hopes that Congress will come together to support, at a minimum, the bipartisan spending bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee that provides $47.3 billion for NIH and $1.5 billion for ARPA-H.
