Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), among other Republicans, joined Democratic colleagues in decrying Bhattacharya’s support for Trump’s proposal, which could cut NIH funding by $19 billion, roughly 40% of the agency’s current operating budget.
Bhattacharya, a physician, scientist, and health economist formerly of Stanford University, told the senators multiple times that he was eager to work with Congress on the budget proposal, arguing that the figure was “not a final thing.”
“I think that the transition really matters, how we do it, and so I, absolutely, am really glad to work with Congress,” he said.
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The administration’s budget proposal justified massive cuts to the NIH by citing the agency’s role in funding dangerous pathogen research that multiple intelligence agencies suspect could
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