Cancer research funding has dropped by nearly a third under Trump

US federal government funding for cancer research has fallen by 31% since Donald Trump's return to power, a Senate report warned on Tuesday, May 13, denouncing a "war on science" led by the Republican.

According to the report, commissioned by left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders , the government cut at least $13.5 billion in public funding for health care in the first quarter of 2025. Among the hardest hit is the US medical research agency, the NIH, which alone saw $2.7 billion in budget cuts over the three months.

These cuts have particularly affected funding for cancer research, which has fallen by 31% compared to the same period last year, reaching its lowest level in at least ten years, according to this analysis, which was carried out based on a review of various data and interviews with officials, scientists and patients.

Their testimonies, reported anonymously in this document, depict the "chaos" reigning in the American Ministry of Health and in the federal agencies it oversees, in the grip of profound restructuring - the Trump administration having announced the elimination of nearly a quarter of the staff.

The report describes the abrupt end of funding, the deletion of health databases, the interference of politicians in decisions previously left to scientists, and mass layoffs.

The consequences include doctors being left "without guidance," controversial alternative remedies being promoted in the midst of a measles epidemic—which has caused more than 1,000 cases and three deaths —and delayed treatments. One colorectal cancer patient saw a clinical trial she was due to participate in postponed due to staff shortages. "It could cost me my life," she said.

"Since January, Trump has launched an unprecedented, illegal, and outrageous attack on science and scientists," Sanders said in a statement accompanying the report. The U.S. Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr. , who heads the committee, is under heavy criticism from the opposition for his handling of the country's measles epidemic and the sweeping overhaul of health authorities he initiated, and is due to appear before a Senate committee on Wednesday on the matter.