Senator McConnell Joins Colleagues in Advocating for Critical NIH Research Funding

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) signed on to Senator Katie Britt's (R-AL) letter to Russell Vought, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), advocating for the disbursement of appropriated funds for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The letter requests that the administration fully implement the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, which contains critical funding to support NIH initiatives across a range of research areas -- cancer, cardiovascular disease, rare pediatric disorders, and more.

The Senators wrote: "We are concerned by the slow disbursement rate of FY25 NIH funds, as it risks undermining critical research and the thousands of American jobs it supports. Suspension of these appropriated funds - whether formally withheld or functionally delayed - could threaten Americans' ability to access better treatments and limit our nation's leadership in biomedical science. It also risks inadvertently severing ongoing NIH-funded research prior to actionable results.

"We share your commitment to ensuring NIH funds are used responsibly and not diverted to ideological or unaccountable programs. We are confident Secretary Kennedy and Director Bhattacharya are well positioned to uphold gold standard research by ensuring that NIH awards are grounded in transparency, scientific merit, and a clear alignment with national interests. Our shared goal is to restore public trust in the NIH precisely because its work is focused on results, accountability, and real-world impact. Withholding or suspending these funds would jeopardize that trust and hinder progress on critical health challenges facing our nation. Ultimately, this is about finding cures and seeing them through to fruition."

Joining Senators Britt and McConnell on the letter were Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dave McCormick (R-PA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Tim Scott (R-SC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Todd Young (R-IN)

Full text of the letter can be found here.

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