Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee grilled National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya on Tuesday morning regarding President Donald Trump’s proposed 2026 budget that would slash funding for the premier biomedical research agency.

Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), among other Republicans, joined Democratic colleagues in decrying Bhattacharya’s support for Trump’s proposal, which could cut NIH funding by $19 billion, roughly 40% of the agency’s current operating budget.

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Bhattacharya, a physician, scientist, and health economist formerly of Stanford University, told the senators multiple times that he was eager to work with Congress on the budget proposal, arguing that the figure was “not a final thing.”

“I think that the transition really matters, how we do it, and so I, absolutely, am really glad to work with Congress,” he said.

The administration’s budget proposal justified massive cuts to the NIH by citing the agency’s role in funding dangerous pathogen research that multiple intelligence agencies suspect could have started the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the NIH’s funding of gender transition medicine research for minors.

But senators on both sides of the aisle on Tuesday saw the 40% reduction as harmful to the agency, not a course correction for debatably bad policy.

Collins, the Appropriations Committee chairwoman, called the steepness of Trump’s NIH budget cut “disturbing.”

“It would undo years of congressional investment in NIH, and it would delay or stop effective treatments and cures from being developed for diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, Type I diabetes, I could go on,” Collins said. “We also risk falling behind China and other countries that are increasing their investment in biomedical research.”

Capito, the chairwoman of the health subcommittee that led the hearing, shared multiple concerns with Collins, particularly on the risk of the NIH cutting funding for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Capito characterized the impending budget fight as a “difficult test ahead of us this year.”

“These institutions are the reason America has kept the edge in biomedical research and innovation, as with many changes in leadership, there seems to be a heightened set of concern and confusion that diverting resources from research will result in a less healthy America,” Capito said.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) chided Bhattacharya for the agency’s freezing of certain grant funds for universities across the country, most of which were made under the advice of former Department of Government Efficiency adviser Elon Musk.

Baldwin said that, to date, the NIH has terminated roughly 2,370 active grants, to the tune of $4.9 billion in funding.

On Monday, nearly 5,000 NIH employees signed a petition against Bhattacharya’s leadership of the NIH under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., saying that the agency has been hurt by the grant terminations and sweeping staff reductions.

“Biomedical research can’t just be turned on and off on a whim,” said Baldwin in Tuesday’s hearing. “These delays and terminations aren’t just debilitating for scientists. They also derail research on everything.”

Bhattacharya said when asked by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) about grant terminations and staff cuts that “the transition has been a very bumpy time” but ultimately, the buck stops with him.

Durbin almost became emotional over the issue of NIH cuts, saying that he is “personally disappointed” in the direction that the agency is headed despite his investment as a senator in federal funding for biomedical advancements.

“Members of this committee on both sides made a difference, had a difference of a 60% increase in NIH research over the last 10 years,” Durbin said. “You’ve wiped it out. Just wiped it out, and now we start anew.”

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) pressed Bhattacharya specifically on the degree to which the president’s proposed budget would cut future NIH grant projects. Bhattacharya was unable to provide an exact answer, saying that it is hypothetical at this point.

“You came here today to ask for a budget that reduces the NIH significantly,” Murray said. “I would expect, as director, you would know.”

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), a Trump loyalist, defended Bhattacharya, allowing the doctor and economist to make the case that he has dedicated his professional career to advancing biomedical research.

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“Doctor, you don’t look like Satan to me,” Kennedy said. “Some of my colleagues have accused you of everything but abandoning your children to the wolves.”

“Everyone has strong opinions about what should happen,” Bhattacharya said. “Congress gets to have a say, and that’s a good thing.”