Trump Administration Orders 'Catastrophic' Funding Cuts For Science Research

Scientists and medical experts said the move to effectively slash NIH grants will interrupt research across the country.

President Donald Trump’s administration announced late Friday it is drastically reducing payments the National Institutes of Health makes to universities, hospitals, and institutes that help cover administrative costs, a move critics said will result in a “catastrophic” hit to science research across the country.

Federal NIH grants pay for a portion of the overhead costs required for institutions to conduct research, including construction, utility costs, and lab operation, known generally as “indirect costs,” in addition to the costs of the research itself. Typically, about 30% of an average NIH grant to an institution is earmarked for indirect costs, but some universities get much higher rates.

NIH said that starting Monday, a 15% indirect cost rate will now apply to all new and existing grants, saving taxpayers more than $4 billion a year.

“Can you believe that universities with tens of billions in endowments were siphoning off 60% of research award money for ‘overhead’? What a ripoff!” billionaire Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency empowered by Trump to unilaterally slash federal spending, wrote Friday in a post online.

The changes to NIH grants follow reports that Trump and Musk are seeking to gut the National Science Foundation and lay off half its staff, and that the president will soon issue an executive order laying off thousands of Health and Human Services workers.