Senators Blast RFK Jr. Over AHRQ Grant Cancellations

More than two dozen Democratic senators have expressed deep concern over recent cancellations of critical health research grants by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Senators Richard Blumenthal and Tammy Baldwin, along with 28 colleagues, wrote a letter to AHRQ Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urging him to reverse these decisions and reinstate the funding.

The letter highlighted the year-long delay in implementing the fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2026 appropriations laws, which were designed to ensure the proper execution of healthcare research funding. The senators argued that these cancellations have disrupted nearly 200 research programs across 30 states, undermining years of taxpayer investments aimed at improving healthcare delivery, patient safety, and overall health outcomes for Americans.

Grant cancellation notices revealed that AHRQ was attempting to reallocate its discretionary health services research award portfolio to prioritize agency resources. However, many researchers had not received updates on the status of their grants for long periods before the notices arrived. A nonprofit tracking the cancellations, AcademyHealth, reported that over 100 grants valued at more than $250 million have been terminated.

The senators provided several examples of affected research projects, including training rural healthcare workers to respond to maternal emergencies, improving home dialysis access for patients, enhancing autism screening and services for Black children, and testing AI applications to enhance the experience of hospitalized children and their families.

Despite the $345 million appropriated for AHRQ, recent reports suggest the agency has spent less than $15 million on grants and has issued few new grants. The senators emphasized that the appropriations were explicitly intended to support lifesaving research, and abandoning this work contradicts the department's mission. They have not yet received a response to their letter but have requested a reply by August 25. The HHS has not yet commented on the matter.