President Donald Trump wants to cut federal spending in many areas of the nation’s budget, including cuts to the National Institutes of Health. The Trump administration plans to limit indirect spending at the agency to 15%.
Indirect spending often covers things like personnel, building expenses and more. That move is causing some lawmakers to pushback.
22 state Attorneys General, including California’s Rob Bonta are suing to stop the cuts from being implemented.
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“San Diego's economy is driven by four sectors. The military, which everyone knows about, tourism, which we love, trade at the border, and science and technology,” U.S. Representative, Scott Peters said.
Peters argues that the spending cuts will hurt the nation and will have a big impact on the San Diego region.
“So, the effect of capping the 15% cap would result in over $800 million in cuts for the state of California. California receives a lot of money from the NIH to fund basic research, but my district alone, California 50, received nearly a billion dollars in NIH funds last year,” Peters said.
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On Feb. 10, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelly temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s move.
“The courts are there as guardrails to make sure that the federal agencies are appropriately acting on Congress’s decisions concerning how federal money ought to be spent,” Attorney Dan Eaton said.
Judge Kelly set a hearing to evaluate the next steps for Feb. 21.
