March 2025 Newsletter
Prepared by Van Scoyoc Associates 

Senate Passes HALT Fentanyl Act
On March 14, by a vote of 84 to 16, the Senate passed the HALT Fentanyl Act (S. 331).  The legislation now needs to be passed again by the House as the Senate made “grammatical changes.”  The recently passed Continuing Resolution extends temporary fentanyl scheduling through September 30^th.  Read more here.

Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Blocking Trump NIH Indirect Cost Cuts
On March 5, Judge Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from cutting National Institutes of Health (NIH) payments for research overhead. Read more here.

Congress Averts a Shutdown
On March 14, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. Read more here.

HHS Renews Opioid Public Health Emergency
On March 18, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. renewed the public health emergency on America’s opioid crisis, days before it was set to expire on March 21. Read more here.

Updated NIH Grants and Funding Page
The NIH recently updated its Grants and Funding page, “creating more certainty around new funding opportunities and guidance documents, existing grant solicitations, the approach NIH is taking to comply with the President’s DEI-relevant Executive Orders.” Read more here.

New ONDCP Director Announced
On March 28, President Trump announced that Sara Carter will be the next director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Carter is a journalist for Fox News who has reported extensively on the border, mostly focusing on human and drug trafficking. Read more here.

HHS Terminated Awards and Tracking System
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently issued information on terminated awards, including at NIH, through the Department’s publicly available Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS).

NIH Leadership Confirmed
On March 25, the Senate voted to confirm Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 53-47, along party lines. Read more here.

HHS Announces Staffing Cuts & Reorganization
On March 27, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. announced significant HHS staffing cuts. HHS said the reductions will save $1.8 billion annually and reduce the HHS workforce from 82,000 to 62,000. Within that amount, it is being reported that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will reduce its workforce by 1,200 employees.  In addition to the staffing cuts, HHS will reorganize the current 28 divisions into 15 new divisions, including a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA). Regional offices will be reduced from 10 to 5.  Read more here.

 Senators Baldwin and Welch Hold “Cures in Crisis” Forum
On March 26, Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Peter Welch (D-VT) hosted a forum titled “Cures in Crisis: What Gutting NIH Research Means for Americans with Cancer, Alzheimer’s, and Other Diseases.” Read more here.