Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) led all Democrats in the Texas Delegation in a letter to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Acting Director Matthew J. Memoli, M.D., M.S., requesting that the NIH withdraw changes to funding caps for research grants to allow lifesaving medical research to continue throughout the state.

“Texas is home to multiple world-class medical facilities, including the world’s largest medical complex at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, which employs more than 100,000 people, has 10 million patient encounters per year, and GDP of $25 billion,” the members wrote.  “It is also home to fourteen medical schools, some of the best in the world. Texas leads the way in medical innovation and stands ready to put its best and brightest minds in biotech research to work solving our biggest and most complex health care problems.

“Currently, NIH funds 4,400 active projects totaling $2.5 billion in Texas,” the members continued.  “The recently announced cuts to indirect costs, however, threaten to devastate medical health research in our state. Because indirect costs are used for expenses like office space, equipment, clerical staff, IT support, lab operations, legal operations, and salaries of administrators—the things that keep research moving forward—we are already hearing from institutions in our districts that if these cuts go into effect, there will be significant financial impacts leading to layoffs, lab closures, and suspension of clinical trials.

“These cuts are not only damaging, they are prohibited by law,” the members concluded.  “Since 2018, Congress has specifically included language in appropriations bills, most recently the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, banning the NIH from making changes to how indirect costs are determined.”

Congressmembers Al Green (TX-09), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Sylvester Turner (TX-18), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Julie Johnson (TX-32), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34), Greg Casar (TX-35), and Lloyd Doggett (TX-37) joined Congresswoman Fletcher in this letter request.

To read the full text of the letter, click here.