WASHINGTON - National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Jay Bhattacharya told a US Senate panel on June 10 he was hopeful that President Donald Trump's administration would reach a settlement with universities that have had research grants suspended.

“I’m very hopeful that a resolution being made with the universities where those decisions have been made, where those grants have been paused,” Professor Bhattacharya said, while appearing at a hearing of the Senate Appropriation Committee’s Subcommittee on Labour, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on the NIH’s 2026 budget request.

Dozens of scientists, researchers and other employees at the NIH issued a rare public rebuke on June 9 ahead of the hearing, criticising the Trump administration for major spending cuts that "harm the health of Americans and people across the globe," politicise research and "waste public resources."

The NIH has terminated 2,100 research grants totalling about US$9.5 billion (S$12.2 billion) and an additional US$2.6 billion in contracts since Mr Trump took office Jan 20, they said in the letter.

The contracts often support research, from covering equipment to nursing staff working on clinical trials.

The White House wants to reduce US health spending by more than a quarter in 2026, with the NIH facing the brunt with a cut of US$18 billion, or 40 per cent, from this year's budget, leaving it with US$27 billion.

The Trump administration wants to cut funding altogether for four of the agency's 27 institutes and centres while consolidating others into five new ones. REUTERS

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