The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has cut cancer research funding by 31% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to a Senate report released Tuesday. The report, commissioned by Senator Bernie Sanders, accuses the White House of waging a “war on science.”
The findings show that more than $13.5 billion in public health funding has been terminated since January, including the cancellation of 1,660 research grants and mass layoffs of scientific personnel. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) was among the hardest hit, losing over $300 million — bringing its inflation-adjusted funding to its lowest in more than a decade. Its parent agency, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), saw a $2.7 billion reduction.
“This is an unprecedented, illegal, and outrageous attack on science and scientists,” said Sanders, who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. “Trump isn’t just denying science — he’s dismantling it.”
The report, based on interviews with dozens of federal scientists and health professionals, also points to widespread disarray within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), now led by vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. At the CDC, at least 175 public health datasets were deleted, leading to confusion among doctors and healthcare providers.
One cancer patient undergoing T-cell therapy at the NIH described how her treatment was delayed due to staff shortages: “This could cost me my life.”
At the NIH Clinical Center, researchers reported labs being shut down en masse. “It’s chaos,” one said. “This administration has blood on its hands.”
The report also highlights the impact of spreading misinformation amid a surge in measles cases, which has infected over 1,000 people and claimed three lives. Over 40 research grants related to vaccine hesitancy have been scrapped.
Kennedy has controversially appointed David Geier — a known vaccine conspiracy theorist with a history of unethical practices — to investigate vaccine-autism links, a theory debunked by decades of scientific research.
Despite proposing a 26% cut to next year’s HHS budget, Trump has allocated $500 million for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, focusing on nutrition, exercise, and reducing reliance on pharmaceuticals.
