Government Watchdog: Trump Illegally Blocked Health Research Funding

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on a Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision issued today, which concludes that President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. illegally impounded fiscal year 2025 funding for health research conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in violation of the Impoundment Control Act (ICA):

"This decision confirms what we've long known: President Trump lit health research funding on fire last year, and it's clear as day he's just done the same again this year. In fact, President Trump announced to the world just a few days ago that he was illegally cutting nearly $30 million more, and HHS has failed to detail to the Committee exactly how it has spent down AHRQ funding for fiscal year 2026.

"This is research that has saved tens of thousands of lives and saved billions of dollars in health care costs-but President Trump and Secretary Kennedy are intent on breaking the law to cut it off, and Republicans in Congress have all but let them do it. It's past time Congress imposes real consequences on this administration for killing lifesaving health research-I'll keep fighting to do just that."

In its decision today, GAO concluded:

"Congress appropriated lump-sum amounts to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to carry out various research initiatives for fiscal year 2025. .… We conclude that HHS withheld funds when it declined to obligate or expend more than $78 million of its FY 2025 appropriation before the close of the fiscal year. We further conclude that this withholding constituted an impoundment under the ICA rather than a programmatic delay. Because HHS did not submit a special message proposing to rescind AHRQ funds, HHS's actions violated the ICA."

GAO's decision examines how the Trump administration illegally impounded fiscal year 2025 funding provided to AHRQ for health research after the Trump administration sabotaged the agency, pushing out 80% of all staff and cancelling grants en masse. It's clear, however, that this administration has once again illegally withheld and misspent AHRQ funding provided by Congress for fiscal year 2026, as well. Senator Murray and Senator Tammy Baldwin, Ranking Member of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee, raised alarm bells about the fate of fiscal year 2026 AHRQ funds several weeks ago. Then, just days after HHS Deputy Secretary Nominee Chris Klomp vowed to senators that virtually all of the agency's funding would be spent-while failing to provide details to back up that assertion-President Trump moved to permanently impound nearly $30 million in AHRQ funding in his "pocket rescission." Republicans have repeatedly blocked Democrats' efforts to prevent presidents from attempting to use "pocket rescissions."

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