Coalition Applauds NIH Funding and Policy Provisions in FY 26 Senate Labor, HHS Bill

The Coalition issued the following statement following the Senate Appropriations Committee’s vote to advance the Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, HHS spending bill:

The Coalition for Pediatric Medical Research commends the Senate Appropriations Committee for advancing a bipartisan Fiscal Year 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill. We strongly support the Committee’s decision to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and hope this will be reflected in the final spending law.

We also applaud the Committee for rejecting proposals to consolidate and restructure the NIH absent thoughtful deliberations involving the larger research community and for retaining a longstanding prohibition on executive branch changing how the federal government supports  facilities and administration (F&A) costs associated with research grants.

The Coalition acknowledges the need to periodically evaluate the structure and efficacy of the NIH and other departments and agencies, but any such reviews must be deliberative, must prevent needless disruption and must ensure allocation of resources necessary to support robust research activities. We have been pleased to participate in and contribute to the ongoing efforts to develop an updated model for funding essential research expenses that improves transparency and drives efficiency and believe any changes must adequately support the myriad resources required for research operations.

 We encourage the House Appropriations Committee to develop a bill with similar funding and policy provisions and look forward to working toward a final FY 26 spending law that supports a vibrant NIH and child health research agenda.