Don’t balance budget on people with cancer

The future of federal funding for cancer research is increasingly uncertain, and the consequences are deeply personal for millions of Americans who have been diagnosed with or devastated by the disease.

President Trump has proposed cutting the National Institutes of Health budget by nearly 40% in the 2026 fiscal year. In its budget message, the White House claims, without evidence, that the NIH has “broken the trust of the American people” through wasteful spending and misleading information. That accusation is callous and disconnected from reality. It ignores decades of measurable progress made possible by NIH-funded research and progress turning once-fatal diagnoses into survivable diseases and extended lives.

Five of my friends have been diagnosed with cancer. Three have died. Another dear friend continues radiation treatments. The daughter of a childhood friend was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 26 years old. She is now in her 40s and the mother of two children because of research and treatment options.

Cancer does not wait for political debates to end or for budgets to be negotiated. NIH- and CDC-supported research drives early detection, innovative therapies and lifesaving clinical trials that patients rely on every day. I see this firsthand through my friend currently fighting breast cancer. Her hope is not abstract; it is the direct result of sustained public investment in science.

Denying science and scientific research, as HHS Secretary Kennedy has done, risks condemning future generations. Roughly one in eight U.S. women and many men will face cancer in their lifetime. Count your family members. Do the math.

Congress appears ready to meet the moment. The House budget proposes a $48 million increase for the NIH, while the Senate includes an additional $150 million specifically for cancer research. Cutting NIH funding is fiscally irresponsible and a moral failure. Wake up, America

Erica Nelson

Wheaton