HHS budget request proposes massive reorganization and significant cuts

The White House unveiled its $94.7 billion fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget request for HHS on May 30. The proposal’s request, though revised slightly upward from the $93.8 billion figure in an earlier “skinny” budget request, is a substantial drop of approximately $126 billion from FY 2025 enacted levels. The proposal includes major funding cuts across nearly all HHS agencies, with NIH facing the largest reduction of about $18 billion. It also details significant reorganization, consolidating 27 institutes into eight. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), for example, would be absorbed under the National Institute on Neuroscience and Brain Research. The proposal also reorganizes and combines several agencies, such as the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, into the newly established Administration for Healthy America. The Indian Health Service is the only major agency to receive a funding increase. Others would receive no funding, including the Office for Civil Rights and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, which oversees national health emergency readiness and response. Ultimately, the budget remains a proposal as Congress determines final appropriations for HHS and other departments.