Proposed Cancer Institute Cuts Blamed on Timing, Not Priorities

The proposal to cut nearly $200 million from the National Cancer Institute as the White House reignites the Cancer Moonshot stems from the timing of overlapping spending plans and doesn’t necessarily reflect the administration’s priorities, the NIH acting director said.

The administration made its funding proposal for the next fiscal year based on the only figures it had at the time—from FY 2021, not the higher amount funded for FY 2022, Acting NIH Director Lawrence A. Tabak said at a Senate panel hearing.

The Senate Appropriations labor-health and human services subcommittee hearing Tuesday examined the National Institutes of Health’s fiscal ...