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The National Institutes of Health plans to cut billions of dollars in reimbursements to medical researchers, a move scientists warn could jeopardize their work in advancing cures for diseases.
The agency, the world's largest funder of biomedical research, announced late Friday it was lowering the maximum "indirect cost rate" that research institutions can charge the government. The change will save more than $4 billion a year.
In a post on the X social media platform, the NIH said $9 billion in money granted for research last year "was used for administrative overhead."
Scientists say that getting reimbursed for those indirect costs—which are not directly attributable to specific research projects or functions—is crucial. The spending goes toward items that include patient safety, research security and hazardous waste disposal, according to Mark Becker, president of the Association of Public & Land-grant Universities.
Becker said the cuts will impede medical advances.
"NIH slashing the reimbursement of research costs will slow and limit medical breakthroughs that cure cancer and address chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease," Becker said in a statement. "Let there be no mistake: this is a direct and massive cut to lifesaving medical research."
White House spokesman Kush Desai described such statements as "hysteria" and added, "Redirecting billions of allocated NIH spending away from administrative bloat means there will be more money and resources available for legitimate scientific research, not less."
The Trump administration has been working swiftly to cut costs across the federal government. Fears of mass layoffs have spread across health agencies as Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency puts federal spending under a microscope—or reportedly feeds it into artificial intelligence software.
Indirect cost reimbursements have had criticisms in the past. A 2016 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office called for more controls on indirect cost rates, saying there was a risk of "wasted federal resources."
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