June 4, 2025

Trump Administration Releases President’s FY 2026 Budget

On Friday, May 30 the Trump administration released its budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2026, providing additional details to the president’s “skinny budget” that was released earlier in the month. (The Society for Women’s Health Research’s statement on the budget can be found here.)

While the president’s budget does not have binding authority, it is an important signaling document for Congress, indicating the administration’s priorities and how it would like to allocate funds across the federal government.

Although there were limited details included in the president’s skinny budget, the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) was interested to understand more details surrounding the cuts (more than $160 billion, or 22%) that were proposed for nondefense discretionary funding overall, which covers virtually everything outside of defense. Indeed, the more detailed budget proposal provides additional information about the administration’s vision and priorities.

The request proposes $94.7 billion for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), representing a more than 25% reduction from current funding levels. Within HHS the administration called for the following cuts:

The request also proposed to consolidate NIH’s 27 Institutes and Centers (ICs) into eight. The eight ICs proposed by the administration are:

As noted in the skinny budget, funding would be eliminated for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), the Fogarty International Center, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, and the National Institute of Nursing Research. The proposal includes no mention of the Office of Research on Women’s Health. The NIH Congressional Justifications, which show how entities would use funding allocated within the president’s budget, have not yet been released, but will be available here.

Additionally, the request calls for the creation of a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) within HHS  that combines the work of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) from NIH, and several programs formerly in the CDC. Pertinent to women’s health, the budget for AHA includes $897 million in discretionary budget authority to support maternal and child health programs formerly managed by HRSA; $767 million for the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant; continued funding for the Maternal Mental Health Hotline; and $30 million to “support expert consultation to the Secretary on women’s health, establish departmental goals, and coordinate cross-Department efforts in prevention, care, research, and education across the female lifespan.” No additional plans are outlined for other Offices of Women’s Health across HHS.

SWHR joined more than 500 local, state, and national organizations on a letter spearheaded by the Coalition for Health Funding to lawmakers expressing concern over the administration’s proposed cuts and their potential to put the nation’s health and security at risk. SWHR will continue to advocate for sufficient funding for the nation’s federal research and public health agencies—and particularly those that fund women’s health research—as well as for thorough deliberation, involving congressional hearings, before any moves are made to restructure those agencies.

For additional details about the president’s budget request, view the following documents:

SWHR will continue monitoring and providing updates relevant to women’s health research. For questions, please contact SWHR Chief Advocacy Officer Lindsey Miltenberger.