House FY 2027 Bill Boosts AMR and NIAID Funding, But Workforce and HIV Cuts Raise Alarm

The House Appropriations Committee has advanced its fiscal year 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill, delivering a mixed picture for the nation's biomedical research and public health infrastructure. While the legislation provides welcome increases for key infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance (search)Search disease programs, it also contains significant cuts to HIV prevention and global health initiatives, and notably omits funding for a bipartisan workforce development program aimed at addressing the growing shortage of infectious disease specialists.

The bill allocates $111.9 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, representing a decrease of $4.5 billion, or 4%, below the FY 2026 enacted level. Within this topline, the National Institutes of HealthView company profile would receive $47.3 billion overall—a $100 million increase over FY 2026—while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (search)Search company would see its budget reduced by $1 billion to $8.1 billion.

NIAID and Antimicrobial Resistance (search)Search disease Research See Modest Gains

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesView company profile (NIAID) is slated to receive $6.604 billion, an increase of $18.5 million over FY 2026. Antimicrobial resistance (search)Search disease research within NIAID would be funded at $565 million, maintaining level funding from the prior year. NIH's Fogarty International Center would also hold steady at $95.2 million.

At the CDC, the Antimicrobial Resistance (search)Search disease Solutions Initiative would receive $207 million, a $10 million increase over FY 2026. The Advanced Molecular Detection program is marked for $58 million, a $15 million boost, while the National Healthcare Safety Network remains level at $24 million. The bill also funds a new Biothreat Radar program designed to strengthen the nation's early detection and response capacity for novel and high-consequence pathogens.

Workforce and HIV Programs Face Steep Cuts

Despite these targeted investments, the bill does not provide funding for the Bio-Preparedness Workforce Pilot Program, a bipartisan initiative aimed at closing the growing infectious disease workforce gap. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (search)Search term (IDSA) expressed concern over this omission, urging the Senate to include the program as the appropriations process moves forward.

More dramatically, the bill eliminates Domestic HIV/AIDS (search)Search disease Prevention and Research, a cut of $755.6 million, retaining only the $220 million Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program at the Health Resources and Services Administration would be reduced by $225 million to $2.3 billion, including elimination of funding for the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative within that program. The CDC's Center for Global Health would receive $663.8 million, $29 million below FY 2026, with global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, measles, and other vaccine-preventable disease funding lines consolidated into a new Global Emerging Infectious Diseases grant.

Scientific Community Responds

Ulrich H. von Andrian, MD, President of the American Association of Immunologists (search)Search term (AAI), responded to the committee's markup with measured concern. "While AAI appreciates that the Committee has recommended increased funding for NIH in a difficult funding environment, the Committee's bill fails to provide the resources needed to sustain U.S. leadership in biomedical research," von Andrian stated.

He emphasized the economic and clinical stakes: "Every dollar invested in NIH research represents a chance to save lives, advance science, and support American jobs. When funding falls short, it means delayed cures, lost opportunities, and a generation of young scientists forced to reconsider their future in research."

Von Andrian pointed to recent translational successes as evidence of the return on federal research investment, noting that NIH-funded research supports more than 390,000 jobs nationwide and generates an estimated $2.57 in economic activity for every $1 invested—a return exceeding 250%. He highlighted a recently FDA-approved immunotherapy for bladder cancer, the first new treatment option for certain patients in more than 30 years, as a direct product of decades of NIH-funded immunological research.

Additional Agency Impacts

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) would receive $3.6 billion in total funding, a decrease of $44 million below FY 2026, though the National Special Pathogen System would see a $3 million increase. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) faces complete elimination of its funding under the House bill.

The bill also directs the Administration to brief the Appropriations Committee routinely on the status of all competitive and formula grants and Notices of Funding Opportunities, enabling congressional oversight. However, it does not include language on grant cancellations or payment management systems—provisions that were included in the final FY 2026 bill.

Path Forward

As the Senate Appropriations Committee prepares to consider its own LHHS bill later this month, IDSA is calling on the upper chamber to provide deeper investments in infectious disease programs, including the Bio-Preparedness Workforce Pilot Program, and to work with the House to ensure robust funding in a final FY 2027 package. The organization also urges both chambers to include language ensuring that grants for biomedical research and public health programs are disbursed in a fair and timely manner, consistent with congressional intent.