Trump budget calls for another sharp cut to NIH

What they're saying: "NIH broke the trust of the American people with wasteful spending, misleading information, risky research, and the promotion of dangerous ideologies that undermine public health," the budget blueprint released on Friday states.

• The budget also revives a proposal to cap NIH "indirect costs," like administrative expenses, at 15%. The White House argues this eliminates wasteful spending, while the research community has pushed back, saying it is in effect a cut.

The big picture: The budget proposes a $15.8 billion, or 12.5%, cut to the Department of Health and Human Services.

• That includes a cut of over $100 million to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which the administration said "pushed radical gender ideology onto children."
• It also continues Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s effort to consolidate public health programs in a new Administration for a Healthy America, which has not gained much traction in Congress.

• The budget states the new agency would consolidate programs and reduce duplication across agencies like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reality check: Congress has its own ideas about federal health spending and could reject many of the proposed cuts, as it did last year.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the cap on NIH indirect costs.