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Again with the Calls for Cuts

The Trump Administration has unveiled its budget proposal for fiscal year 2021, which calls for an 8 percent cut to the US National Institutes of Health budget, as GenomeWeb has reported.

In its budget request, the Trump Administration calls for a 10 percent cut to the Department of Health and Human Services overall and in particular asks for $38 billion for NIH, down from its current $41.46 billion budget. These cuts would affect institutes and centers across NIH, including the National Cancer Institute, which would receive $5.69 billion down from $6.25 billion this fiscal year and the National Human Genome Research Institute, which would receive $550.1 million as compared to $606.3 million, as GenomeWeb notes.

Additionally, the US National Science Foundation would see a 7 percent cut, which would bring its budget from $8.3 billion to $7.7 billion, the Washington Post adds.

However, it notes that in years past Congress has largely dismissed President Trump's budget requests to decrease science and health agency funding. Last year, for instance, the Trump Administration sought a 12 percent decrease to NIH funding and the agency received a 6 percent boost to its budget. 

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