DeLauro: President Trump and Elon Musk Sabotage Research on Cures and Treatments for Diseases

Firing Thousands of National Institutes of Health (NIH) Employees Will Destroy Cutting-Edge Research on Cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, and other life-threatening diseases

WASHINGTON – House Appropriations Committee and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro is warning of the fatal consequences of self-appointed president Elon Musk’s sabotaging of the National Institutes of Health. By slashing NIH’s workforce, President Trump and unchecked billionaires are blocking the development of cures and treatments for diseases and health conditions that affect millions of American families.  

“President Trump, Elon Musk, and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are continuing their destruction of the agencies that protect Americans’ health,” said Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro. “NIH is the most important biomedical research institution in the world—it brings hope to millions of American families suffering from life-threatening diseases and health conditions, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, mental health disorders, maternal mortality, infectious diseases, genetic diseases, rare diseases, and countless other health conditions. Elon Musk and President Trump are destroying the hope for life-saving cures.”

NIH funding contributed to research and development of more than 99 percent of drugs developed between 2010 and 2019. NIH research has led to gains in health and longevity, enabling Americans to live longer and healthier lives.

Layoffs at NIH will hollow out the younger generation of world-class researchers. The next generation of brilliant minds will go abroad to continue their research, which will enable China to surpass the United States as the global leader in biomedical research.

“As a survivor of ovarian cancer, I know I am here today by the grace of God and because of biomedical research. Promising advances in cancer research, including immunotherapy, continue to bring hope to millions of Americans facing a life-threatening cancer diagnosis. During this year’s horrific flu season, the worst in 15 years, NIH researchers are on the cusp of a universal flu vaccine – the holy grail that has alluded us since the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which killed my grandfather,” DeLauro continued. “NIH is the crown jewel of biomedical research. If President Trump and Elon Musk destroy it, we will never know about the cures and life-saving treatments that are left behind. It will be the American people who suffer.”

Ranking Member DeLauro’s statement on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) layoffs is here.

Last week, the Trump Administration imposed an unlawful policy cap to indirect costs for NIH. Read Ranking Member DeLauro’s statement here.

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