Transcript: Russell Vought on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," July 27, 2025
CBS4 days
Trump Admin Reverses Directive Pausing $15B NIH Research Funding
Above: A photo illustration of the National Institutes of Health displayed on a smartphone screen. Image copyright: Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
The Spin
Republican narrative
The NIH is desperately in need of reform. The agency was dangerously weaponized against the American people during the pandemic, and wastes extraordinary sums of federal funding on fruitless endeavors. Accordingly, the Trump administration will strive to ensure that the NIH only receives the backing it requires to perform its key functions.
Democratic narrative
The NIH grants fund life-saving research that brings the U.S. ever closer to discovering new treatments and cures for the most severe illnesses and diseases. The Trump administration’s callous agenda against the agency, however, threatens to jeopardize this vital medical progress, with potentially disastrous consequences for everyday Americans.