The Slow Spend of Congressionally Appropriated Science Funding and What It Means for University Research

What is “Slow Spending?”
 

Slow spending is the delay in releasing congressionally appropriated funds to federal agencies. This funding delay affects agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) which would otherwise be investing the funds in research, often conducted at research universities on behalf of the American people. Without these federal funds, university researchers cannot conduct this critical research and achieve scientific breakthroughs that would advance the health, security, and prosperity of Americans and the nation.

What caused the spending slowdown?
 

The U.S. Congress sets the federal budget and provides the annual spending bills to federal agencies through the appropriations process. In a normal year, after Congress has approved the annual appropriation bills, federal agencies like NIH and NSF move quickly to award grants to scientific research projects through a competitive, merit-based process. This year has been different: at first, a government shutdown and staff shortages slowed the rate of investment in these critical efforts. But now, despite Congress passing a spending bill protecting investments in scientific research, bureaucrats inside the administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have placed holds on this research funding, subjecting these critical investments to a political review process while undermining the merit review system.

How much funding has been withheld because of OMB’s slow spend?
 

Compared to previous fiscal years, the slow spend in FY26 has resulted in:

• 66% fewer new grant awards and 54% less money in dollars allocated to NIH (by the end of February in FY26 compared to the same period in FY21-24)
• 70% fewer new NIH research grants awarded halfway through the fiscal year.
• Only 15% of the $38 billion appropriated for NIH being spent for grants and contracts at the fiscal year’s midpoint.
• 14 Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) published by NIH in 2026 (as of March 15) compared to a total of 756 in 2024.
• Around 70% fewer new grants (by mid-March of the fiscal year) awarded by NSF.
• NSF’s STEM Directorate has only awarded 21 grants in FY 25

How does OMB’s funding delay affect university research?
 

The effect of the spending slowdown on cutting edge research being conducted at America’s leading research universities has manifested in several ways, including:

• Suspension of research projects due to stalled funding, including efforts to discover new cancer, dementia, and other treatments.
• Freezes and reductions on hiring for postdocs and graduate students because of unpaid grants – risking “brain drain” in which we lose talented researchers to our competitors.
• Workforce reductions that disproportionately affect early-career researchers who represent the future of America’s scientific workforce.
• Permanent, irreversible harm to some research projects due to insufficient funding that arrived too late.

Further reading about the effects of slow spending