R!A NIH Funding Sign On
February 25, 2025
The Hon. Susan Collins
Chair
Senate Appropriations Committee
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Hon. Tom Cole
Chair
House Appropriations Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
The Hon. Patty Murray
Vice Chair
Senate Appropriations Committee
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Hon. Rosa DeLauro
Ranking Member
House Appropriations Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chair Collins, Vice Chair Murray, Chair Cole, and Ranking Member DeLauro,
On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we urge you to prioritize robust funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bill and, in that legislation, preserve existing protections against cuts to reimbursement for NIH grantee Facilities and Administrative costs. As a recent survey commissioned by Research!America shows, the American people overwhelmingly support medical research funding. We hope you can continue to prioritize this engine of health and economic growth in your appropriations bills.
With the March 14 deadline for FY25 appropriations quickly approaching, we ask that you ensure NIH receives at least the $1.77 billion increase proposed in the bipartisan Senate FY25 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill. A full-year continuing resolution (CR) would plateau NIH funding at a time when scientific opportunity and global competition demand stronger investment. Should a full-year CR be enacted, we urge you to include a $500 million anomaly for NIH to sustain biomedical research and innovation.
Additionally, we strongly support the continuation of Section 224 of the FY24 Appropriations Act in the final FY25 Appropriations bill since it prohibits changes to NIH Facilities & Administrative cost reimbursements. The Administration’s proposed policy to drastically reduce NIH funding by at least $4 billion would have immediate and harmful consequences—slowing scientific progress, delaying treatments and cures, and weakening the U.S. research ecosystem. NIH funding is a key driver of economic growth, job creation, and medical breakthroughs, and this policy change would hinder our ability to remain globally competitive.
We urge you to finalize FY25 appropriations with strong NIH funding and prevent a sudden and sweeping change in Facilities and Administrative payments. Thank you for your leadership in ensuring continued investment in scientific discovery and innovation.
CC: The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito, Chair, Senate Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education
The Honorable Tammy Baldwin, Ranking Member, Senate Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education The Honorable Robert Aderholt, Chair, House Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education