DeLauro Responds to First Lady Melania Trump’s Women’s Health Initiative

WASHINGTON – Earlier today, First Lady Melania Trump posted a list of her “5 Pillars of Women’s Health Innovation” on social media. This post followed President Trump’s signing of an Executive Order that the White House claims will “advance women’s health.” House Appropriations Committee and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) issued the following statement in response to the First Lady:

“I could not agree more with the First Lady, but her husband’s policies tell a different story. President Trump and his budget director, Russ Vought, have proposed slashing hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for programs that support women’s health. They have sought the elimination of entire agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services that conduct the very research into women’s health they are now claiming they want to increase.

“The President’s budget for fiscal year 2027 proposed only $43 billion for research funded under the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a cut of $6 billion (12%) below the fiscal year 2026 enacted level. I am all for supporting the First Lady’s initiative to increase resources for women’s health research and for making sure the treatments this research produces are accessible to all women who need them. Unfortunately, her husband’s choices are working against these goals.

“I would be glad to work with the First Lady to make the five pillars she lays out a reality. Since I first became chair of the Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee in 2019, we have tripled funding for NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health. I am eager to build on that progress, but that will mean reversing many of the policies this White House is pursuing.”

Ranking Member DeLauro was responsible for establishing a specific line-item in funding legislation for the Office of Research on Women’s Health, when before their funding had been at the discretion of the NIH director. She also led the effort to provide the Office of Research on Women’s Health the power to issue grants, directly supporting women’s health research across the country.

A full summary of House Republicans fiscal year 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies bill that details some of their proposed cuts can be found here. A fact sheet on this bill can be found here.

House Republicans advanced this bill out of the full committee in June.

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