Congress likely to reject Trump proposal for flat NIH funding

In his FY19 proposed budget released Monday, President Donald Trump asked Congress to flat-line NIH funding. Just as Congress ignored a Trump administration request to slash the NIH budget last year, it is unlikely to agree to flat funding this year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced last week his commitment to increase NIH funding by $2 billion over the next two years (see BioCentury Extra, Feb. 8).

The Trump budget proposal also requests that Congress move three agencies from other parts of HHS into NIH: the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation; the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Under the proposal, AHRQ would become the National Institute for Research on Safety and Quality...