Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was dispatched by Democrats and eight of his own flock yesterday, forcing almost immediately the next question which is "who is the replacement?" Part of Speaker McCarthy's downfall was attributed to his lack of fiscal restraint - although we suspect the issues between him and Rep. Matt Gaetz were personal - so his successor will have to be much more of a budget hawk. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana is one possibility as it Rep. Jim Jordon of Ohio. Both fit the budget hawk profile.
The change in command comes at a time when both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have considered the budget for the National Institutes of Health. The House proposal calls for a 4.5% reduction overall while the Senate has offered a 2.4% increase. In both scenarios the biggest bite is coming out of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, formerly headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci. The House version also delivers a blow to the Office of the Director, formerly the stomping grounds of Dr. Francis Collins.
These circumstances are now one of those rare examples in Washington where the best case scenario - the Senate version - is pretty bad. A 2.4% increase in nominal terms is a budget cut of ~2.0% in real terms. With the possibility of the House making greater demands for budget deficit reduction, pretty bad can get really bad.
Rep. Jim Jordan's Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has been looking into a range of issues but these include the NIH's possible complicity in obscuring the origins of the SAR-CoV-2 virus and interfering the the First Amendment rights of scientists with dissenting views on all pandemic response. In other words, Rep. Jordon is loaded for bear.
Not that Rep. Steve Scalise will be particularly sympathetic. He has been outspoken about fiscal excesses as well.
Funding for NIH has served for many years as a way to de-risk early stage discovery. Academic Medical Centers often use technology transfer or commercialization programs to monetize discoveries and attract private capital. Viable businesses are then in a good position to attract growth funding. Slowing and negative growth in NIH funding will reverberate throughout the life sciences ecosystem for years to come.
Emily Evans
Managing Director – Health Policy
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