Dr. Jay Bhatacharya, director of the National Institute of Health, faced important questions from both Republican and Democrat senators on Tuesday.
Senate spending chair Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, has quickly criticised the current budget cuts and proposed changes, including a nearly 40% cut at the National Institute for Aging’s Expenses Institute and an overall cut to the $48 billion overall budget.
“This is a particular concern, as senators represent the oldest state in the country,” Collins said. “I personally know what it means to so many American families.”
The senator also said the indirect spending caps on universities was “very underconsidered,” and it harmed US medical research. “It’s leading scientists to leave the US for opportunities in other countries. It promises to halt clinical trials and abandon medical research,” Collins said.
The federal court suspended the 15% cap on indirect fee payments, but the administration had anticipated savings from the 2026 budget change.
Collins pressed Battacharya to consult with scientific adviser Kelvin Drogemeyer during President Trump’s first term. Bhattacharya said he can’t argue The current cost cap for ongoing litigation can work with Congress on potential reforms to the grant spending system.
The NIH director defended certain administrative changes, distancing himself from others, including a suspension of funding for Northwestern University grants, saying some terminations occurred before he took on the role.
When responding to Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin about the overall cuts, Batacharya was responsible for canceling other drastic grants. “There was a change in priorities at NIH to move away from politicized science, and I made those decisions,” he said.
The hearing room was filled with supporters of purple garbeds for the study of Alzheimer’s disease, and representatives from the American Cancer Society Cancer Behavior Network, dressed in light blue.
Baldwin harshly criticised the proposed $18 billion cut to NIH’s total spending, a $18 billion cut, saying the cuts would be bitten as NIH reduces 15,000 medical research projects.
“I think Congress will reject your budget request, but that clearly shows the administration’s intentions,” Baldwin said. “What do you think of this proposal other than intentionally disrupt biomedical research?”
Bhattacharya said in the budget that he “willing to work with Congress and work” and that it is more flexible spending on medical research.
Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington, has questioned Bhatacharya about the number of NIH departures since the massive layoffs and reorganization plans. The senator said she spoke to Bhatacharya on the phone last week, but still “for months” he has not received an answer on how many people have left the agency since the government’s first efficiency reform began this February.
“Over the past few months, the administration has fired and pushed out nearly 5,000 key employees across the NIH, awarded nearly $3 billion in grant funding and ended nearly 2,500 grants.
Bhattacharya said 25 people from the NIH clinical centre have been fired as part of the As for the reduction in the Force Plan, they were unable to provide a complete number of people who left the NIH after the reorganization began. Murray sought those numbers by the end of Tuesday.
Other democratic senators questioned the rapid, massive cancellation of hundreds of grants, including terms like diversity, equity, race, disparity, and gender. These March and April ends are totaled by some estimates, between at least $1.8 to $2.7 billion in funding.
“I think what I want from you is the approval that it’s just too rough cuts and that you still have something to unravel and do,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaiian native.
Schatz added that it could take 18 months to unlock frozen and terminated grants, estimated by at least one expert.
Bhattacharya said “we have established a process for these grants and decisions,” and “hundreds of people have sued.”
The NIH director took over in his role on April 1 after many of these Doge-led ends took place. However, he said the appeal would move quickly.
“It won’t take 18 months. It’ll take weeks to get through those appeals. We’ve reversed a lot of them,” he told the Senate committee. “I mean, I didn’t do this job to finish the grants. I did this job and made sure I did this job and did research that promotes the health needs of Americans.”