The president of MDI Biological Lab joined a panel of biomedical researchers on Wednesday who warned members of Congress that the Trump administration's cost-cutting measures could have long-lasting impacts on scientific research and public health.
"The lives we save tomorrow depend on the decisions we make today," Hermann Haller, president of MDI Bio Lab in Bar Harbor, told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Haller appeared at the invitation of Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who serves as chair of the powerful budget-writing committee. Although the title of Wednesday's hearing was "Keeping America's edge in innovation" in biomedical research, the subtext of that title became clear during Collins' opening remarks.
"Proposed funding cuts, the firing of essential federal scientists and policy uncertainties threaten to undermine the foundation for our nation's global leadership," Collins said.
Since taking office roughly 100 days ago, the Trump administration has eliminated thousands of jobs at agencies like the National Institutes of Health and paused or threatened to cancel billions of dollars in federal research grants to universities and laboratories. The Washington Post also reported recently that a preliminary budget document circulating within the Trump administration proposes cutting more than $47 billion — or roughly 40% of funding — from NIH.
Panelists told senators that the current changes — not to mention even deeper cuts — could have long-lasting impacts on research into diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, ALS and diabetes.
Sudip Parikh, the executive publisher of the influential magazine Science and CEO of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, warned the uncertainty over future funding is causing a panic among the early-career scientists who should be conducting groundbreaking research for the next several decades.
"We keep stiff upper lips here but the scientific community is in paralysis right now," Parikh said. "It is in paralysis across the country. In every state, there are graduate students, there are scientists, there are scientists who instead of thinking about the very problems you are talking about, they are thinking about the next grant, they are thinking about the next six weeks."
Haller with MDI Bio Lab told senators that said NIH programs have allowed rural states, like Maine, to become "small powerhouses of scientific progress." Haller said his independent lab has been able to recruit and retain more than 50 staff scientists and train more than 3,000 undergraduate students with the help of NIH programs.
But he said the Trump administration's plans to only allow 15% of NIH grants to go toward so-called "indirect costs" could make it impossible for independent research facilities to pay for the equipment, facilities and support staff needed to conduct research.
"My message to you today is simple: federal funding for biomedical research is not just a cost," Haller said. "It's a national investment. It drives innovation, it fuels the economy and it protects Americans' health."
The House and Senate appropriations committees are often described as holding the federal purse strings because Congress, rather than the White House, decides how federal dollars are spent. To date, Republican leaders have criticized some of the Trump administration's funding cuts — especially when they affect their local districts — but have yet to take any concrete action to reassert congressional control.
Collins has strongly criticized the cuts and policy changes surrounding scientific research and has worked successfully to reverse some funding cuts to Maine programs.
"Also very troubling are the administration's abrupt cancellation of grants, proposals to slash federal funding and laying off scientists and technical experts with apparently little or no justification," Collins said. "These actions put our leadership in biomedical innovation in real risk and must be reversed."
But she has also said the growing tug of war between Congress and the White House over spending authority will likely be decided in the courts. Democrats, meanwhile, have been demanding that the Republican-led committees hold hearings on the Trump administration's cost-cutting efforts. Wednesday was the first full hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee since Collins took over as chairwoman in the current Congress.
Both Republicans and Democrats on the committee criticized the mass firings at federal health agencies and the continued uncertainty over federal research grants.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowsky, a Republican, said NIH faces "unprecedented hits" under Trump's plan and Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran said Congress must eliminate wasteful spending without falling into the trap "of saying that what happens at NIH doesn't matter."
But Democrats were much more forceful in their condemnation of Trump and Elon Musk, the billionaire who has headed the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
"The very measured and reasonable ways that we've all discussed what's happened makes me crazy," said Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware. "Because DOGE in my view is a hoard of locusts that has been unleashed on the federal government. And they have torn up what we have built over decades."
Committee vice chair, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, accused Trump and Musk of "tossing tomorrow's groundbreaking cures into a shredder."
"These cuts and firings are not about some big strategy, just chaos and extortion," Murray said. "We have seen Trump freeze billions in research dollars for purely political reasons, putting his petty grievances ahead of curing cancer and saving lives."
Collins' office said the committee plans to call Trump administration officials to testify about the issue of biomedical research funding at a later date.
