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The Trump administration’s proposed 2018 budget would decimate scientific research and innovation while jeopardizing millions of Americans’ access to essential health care and preventive services, according to leaders of national medical organizations.
President Donald J. Trump’s spending plan — delivered to Congress today with the title “A New Foundation for American Greatness” — proposes nearly $6 billion in funding cuts for the NIH. This would deal “a devastating blow” to medical research, Steven Houser, PhD, FAHA, president of the American Heart Association, said in a statement.
A cut of this magnitude would force promising research to be left unfinished — or worse, put on hold,” Houser said. “The hope of too many Americans rests on NIH–funded research and breakthrough medical advancements.”
Trump’s proposal — which includes billions of dollars in cuts for other health-related entities and programs, including Medicaid — is designed to trim $3.6 trillion in spending in the next decade.
The plan — based on a goal of 3% annual economic growth by 2027 — is grounded in eight pillars of reform: health reform, tax reform and simplification, immigration reform, reductions in federal spending, regulatory rollback, American energy development, welfare reform and education reform.
“It struck me the title should have been different. The title should have been a ‘taxpayer-first budget’ because that is what this is,” Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said during a press briefing this morning. “We looked at this budget through the eyes of the people who were actually paying the bills.”
However, several medical organizations urged lawmakers to reject the proposed cuts and reaffirm a bipartisan commitment to funding for research and disease prevention.