NIH Spent Its Full $34 Billion Budget — But Grant Reviews Are Slower Than Ever

NIH spent its full $34 billion grant budget in the 2026 fiscal year, which ended Wednesday, but researchers say the agency is moving slower and staying more opaque than ever. A STAT analysis finds the agency funded around 58,000 projects, a slight drop from the 61,000 awarded during the 2025 fiscal year and well below the roughly 63,700 grants awarded annually in the years before the second Trump administration.

As delayed reporting catches up, the drop could become more pronounced. Still, the direction of both grant totals and review times is moving in the same fashion: downward.

What the Numbers Show

The NIH spent its full external grants budget after a slow start. A survey and interviews with researchers reveal that delays in the grant review process are slowing down the pace of their work, making it hard for them to propose and conduct the kind of innovative, impactful science that the NIH exists to support.

The total could edge up a bit over the next few weeks due to reporting delays in the NIH grants database, but the lower grant count looks to come from the White House moving to fully fund more multiyear grants ahead of time, leaving less money available for new awards.

The White House’s Push

The reason behind the decline in new awards is most likely the White House’s effort to fully fund multiyear grants ahead of time. That approach consumed a larger share of available money, leaving less funding readily available to issue new awards.

STAT was told by researchers that the grant review process is taking longer than before, which is holding back their work. They say it makes it hard to put forward and carry out the kind of science that the NIH is meant to back.

Spending data from the NIH shows the agency is still cutting back on grant awards tied to health disparities, race, and ethnicity. The agency also failed to make much headway on other goals set by the Trump administration, such as spreading funding more evenly around the country and boosting support for early-career researchers.

The NIH has used up its entire budget, and its rate of output has dropped accordingly. Grants and reviews alike have slowed down, a consequence of choices made outside its own walls.

Key Facts From the Analysis

• The NIH spent its full $34 billion grant budget in the 2026 fiscal year
• The agency funded around 58,000 projects, down slightly from 61,000 in 2025
• Grants are down from roughly 63,700 annually before the second Trump administration
• Reporting lags mean the final count could rise slightly
• The White House’s push to fully fund multiyear grants in advance likely reduced new awards

How the Drop Happened

1. The White House pushed to fully fund more multiyear grants in advance.
2. That strategy left less funding on hand to issue new awards.
3. Researchers reported slower grant reviews and a harder time proposing new work.
4. The NIH spent its full budget anyway after a slow start.

The NIH has exhausted its entire budget, yet the pace of its operations has slowed. The consequences include fewer grants and slower reviews, both stemming from choices made outside the agency itself.

Source material: “STAT+: NIH awarded all its grant funding, but delayed and opaque decisions stymied researchers,” STAT.

fiscal year 2026 · grant delays · health disparities · NIH · research funding