WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) took President Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE, and his Republican colleagues to task today for their brutal cuts to medical research that threaten to take away hope from millions of Americans. His remarks came during emotional questioning at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on biomedical research.
Senator Coons opened his remarks by speaking out against the drastic cuts DOGE, which he described as a “horde of locusts,” has made to medical research and clinical trials. DOGE has fired 2,500 researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and canceled over 800 grants for research on diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer. They have also fired 3,500 members of staff at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
These cuts have not just stunted medical research in our country for decades to come. They have also taken away hope from Americans struggling with disease and the families whose lives and well-being depend on this research. During his remarks, Senator Coons talked about how he has felt this personally – whether through friends who have benefitted from clinical cancer trials, or through family and friends he has lost to the disease, including his father, father-in-law, and stepfather.
“Yes, clinical trials, doctor, sometimes doesn't benefit the individual, but I gotta tell you: it sure as hell benefited [my friend] and his family. It gave him hope, and it kept him alive. And I don't understand how a single member of this Congress can look you in the eyes as a mother and say we should cut these programs,” said Senator Coons during the hearing. “The FDA, the NIH, National Cancer Institutes, all in combination give hope to those facing the beast of cancer, the challenges of a new diagnosis, and the need for a path forward that's positive.”
Senator Coons also highlighted the impacts cuts to medical research have had on his own state, highlighting a recent visit to the University of Delaware’s National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). During his visit, Senator Coons was told that DOGE had delayed, paused, or withheld $55 million in grant funding for research on diseases like Alzheimer’s and cancer.
“If that's happening in my little state, all across our country we are devastating the next generation of researchers,” Senator Coons continued. “We are harming our nation and giving China the opening of a lifetime to recruit the best and brightest from around the world. And Emily, we are taking away from families like yours – all over our nation – hope.”
A video and transcript of Senator Coons’ comments are available below.
Senator Coons: Thank you, Vice Chair Murray. Thank you for leading this hearing, and I want to thank each of the researchers who has dedicated your lives to science, to medicine, to progress. Thank you for your testimony today. Emily, thank you.
I am enraged and struggling with this hearing. Listening to you talk about the value of hope to you and your daughter with cancer, and the very measured and reasonable way in which we've all discussed what's happened, makes me crazy. Because DOGE, in my view, is a horde of locusts who've been unleashed on the federal government, and they have torn up things that we have built over decades. Let me just briefly review: at NIH, 1200 probationary researchers were laid off and another 1300 fired. That's 2500 dedicated researchers. At FDA, 3500 staff. At NIH, DOGE canceled 800 grants valued at over a billion – and we were told these grants focused on DEI when in fact they focused on diabetes, Alzheimer's, mRNA and cancer.
My father died of cancer. My father-in-law died of cancer. My stepfather died of cancer. Your daughter, Charlie, is with us today because of the incredible dedicated research and the ground-breaking work of people we've talked so calmly about today. Dr. Sleckman, I have a personal friend – a combat veteran, a Marine Corps colonel – who came to me when he was diagnosed with stage four metastatic melanoma, as you just described, and whose life was saved by the research you described. I have a personal friend of decades, Nicky Sotiropoulis, who came to me when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. His son, close friends with my sons. His wife, close with my wife. He went to NIH month after month, year after year. Yes, clinical trials, doctor, sometimes doesn't benefit the individual, but I gotta tell you: it sure as hell benefited Nick and his family. It gave him hope, and it kept him alive. And I don't understand how a single member of this Congress can look you in the eyes as a mother and say we should cut these programs.
Sure, we can talk about overhead rates. Sure, we can talk about measured and thoughtful and reasonable ways to trim a little here, or cut a little there. But that's not what's happening. What's happening is the wholescale abandonment of billions of dollars of research. I was just at the University of Delaware last week, at the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals, and you know what I was told? That at the University of Delaware – the little University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware! – $55 million in health research – $55 million! – has been delayed, paused, or withheld. Research on HIV, Alzheimer's and characterization of cancer cells. And if that's happening in my little state, all across our country we are devastating the next generation of researchers. We are harming our nation and giving China the opening of a lifetime to recruit the best and brightest from around the world. And Emily, we are taking away from families like yours – all over our nation – hope.
Emily, can you tell me how important hope is for you and Charlie, how important is it that we keep investing in research?
Mrs. Emily Stenson: Thank you for the question. Hope gets you through the hardest days, and I know I explained in our story some of the hard days that we had, and hope is what kept my husband and I going and trying to save our daughter. There's no value you can put on hope, and we need to be providing it to all of the families like ours.
Senator Coons: So yesterday, I caught up with a Delawarean who's been living with ALS for years, and last weekend, a close friend of mine confided his recent diagnosis with ALS. Senator Murkowski and I worked to get signed into law a bill to invest in ALS research. Dr. Esham, if I could, how will the cuts to FDA impact your agency's ability to characterize and bring new treatments – to provide hope to those living with this horrific disease?
Cartier Esham, Ph.D.: Thank you for that question, Senator, and I believe you're probably aware that the Alliance did send letters to this committee expressing our concerns about the volume of approval department departures, and the potential impact on the ability of the FDA to be effective and continue be able to continue to evaluate the safety and accuracy of next-generation medical interventions. I will say, I will say, I did have the privilege of meeting with the commissioner on Monday and was happy to hear that he does not have any major plans for a major reorganization. And while they're looking at efficiencies, potential consolidations and things like travel and IT and potential efficiencies that can be brought about by regulatory innovation, I was happy to hear that they are looking very hard in examining what functions need to be brought back to the agency to ensure that they are able to manage—you know, optimally manage their workload and continue to review and approve next-generation medicines. I think continued transparency and communications about this and engagement can be very important moving forward. We are certainly—the alliance will be certainly examining the proposed budget updates about staffing, including information about what positions are funded by user fees, and how we can work together to make sure that in total, the FDA has the resources it has to have to not just approve what's before them now, but to continue to drive investment in the United States and next-generation medicine. If you don't have a functioning FDA, that has a severe impact on the ability to raise funds for next-generation medicines.
Senator Coons: The FDA, the NIH, National Cancer Institutes, all in combination give hope to those facing the beast of cancer, the challenges of a new diagnosis, and the need for a path forward that's positive. Thank you for what you do. Thank you, Madam Chair for this hearing.