Rep. Grijalva Grills RFK Jr. For Cuts to Life-Saving Medical Research at Committee Hearing on Proposed HHS Budget

Friday, April 17, 2026

Washington, D.C. - Congresswoman Adelita S. Grijalva questioned Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr during a hearing of the House Education and Workforce Committee on the proposed FY27 HHS budget. A transcript of her line of questioning is included, in part, below: 

Rep Grijalva: Thank you for your time today. I have to say, as I listen here, with all the health initiatives you’re espousing, I have grave concerns about the HHS budget and the cuts that are being proposed. 

I spent 20 years on a school board and saw firsthand how support systems children have — or don’t have — outside of the classroom shape their outcomes. 

At the most basic level, children can’t go to school if they’re sick. 

They can’t learn on an empty stomach. 

And their families can’t get ahead if they can’t access health care. 

I’d like to first talk about your proposed cuts to medical research.  

I was reading an article this morning that talked about your affinity to perform your own medical research. You apparently once cut the penis off of a road-killed raccoon to “study them later.”  You speak fondly of medical research, yet your budget cuts show that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are going to get a cut of more than 12 percent. This level of cuts would halt promising research, force layoffs of scientists and research staff, and undermine America's global leadership in medical innovation. 

What specific diseases do you believe deserve less medical research? 

RFK Jr: DEI 

Grijalva: Do you have a specific program, a specific disease, that deserves less funding? 

RFK Jr: I would say we’re putting a billion dollars into DEI and DEI research has never cured any disease, it’s never produced any new drug.

Grijalva: Between February 2025 and April 2025, HHS cancelled or froze more than $180 million in National Cancer Institute grants. Were you the one to approve these cuts to cancer grants or did that come directly from the White House?  

RFK Jr: We’re giving the highest – one of the highest – budget increases to NCI in this proposed budget. 

Grijalva: Can you answer my specific question? Were you the one to approve those cuts or did that come from the White House? 

RFK Jr: As I've said, we’re raising the budget for NCI in this budget – it's one of the only agencies throughout my subagencies throughout my entire agency that’s receiving a raise. 

Grijalva: Secretary Kennedy, you have a responsibility to tell the truth to this Committee. Here are some examples of cuts.  

  1.  In April 2025, HHS cancelled an NIH grant regarding “Strategies to Reduce Cancer and Chronic Disease in the Arkansas Delta”; 

  1. In June 2025, a grant on “Selective Targeting of Pancreatic Cancer…”; 

  1.  In March 2025, a grant on “Automated Digital Imaging for Cervical Cancer Screening”; 

  1.  And the list goes on.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funds the vast majority of cancer research in the United States, faces a proposed program level cut of more than $5 billion, or 12% from last fiscal year. In response, the Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) stated, in part: 

"ASCO is concerned by the White House’s proposal to reduce support for NIH at a time when we are seeing unprecedented progress in cancer prevention, detection, and treatment...For decades, robust federal funding has led to lifesaving discoveries and brought hope to millions of families. NIH funding drives advances in medical research and discovery across all diseases and specialties. NIH funding cuts risk stalling momentum toward cures, including those for cancer... Additionally, a cap on indirect cost rates could leave research institutions unable to cover the actual costs of conducting high-level cancer trials. Ultimately, these policies will stall medical progress and directly threaten patient care advances...we urge lawmakers to reject the proposed cuts and changes to NIH grantmaking. We ask Congress to reaffirm its longstanding, bipartisan commitment to cancer research by passing an FY 2027 spending bill that sustains robust, predictable funding. In the fight against cancer, patients simply cannot wait."    

 

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