Trump’s One Big Ugly Bill codified a budget that included devastating cuts to the National Institutes of Health. Chalkbeat Colorado recounted the damage that cuts to the National Institutes of Health will do to the local economy and medical research in Colorado.
Chalkbeat reported:
Federally funded research grants have paved the way to life-saving treatments and contribute millions to local economies.
But, according to a new study, the 2026 Trump administration budget cuts could halt that research, result in job losses, and hurt the economy in every U.S. congressional district.
These estimates from the Science and Community Impacts Mapping Project say slashing National Institutes of Health grants, which are just 1% of the federal budget, by $18 billion within Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” would result in $46 billion in lost economic revenue and over 200,000 jobs lost nationwide.
A map from the Science and Community Impacts Mapping Project (SCIMaP) showing the projected economic impact of NIH budget cuts in 2026 across the United States. (Science and Community Impacts Mapping Project (SCIMaP))
The mapping project researchers compared active grants within the 2020-24 budget years to the projected 2026 budget changes.
In Colorado, budget cuts are estimated to amount to $657 million in economic losses and 2,800 jobs in the state’s eight congressional districts. Much of this research is conducted by universities across the state, with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus expected to lose the most funding.
Advocates for the grants have said that federally funded scientific and medical research improves public health, helps spur innovation, creates jobs, and boosts the economy.
The report says the White House budget cuts research to life-saving diagnostics, therapeutics, and potential cures. That includes a 39% cut to the National Cancer Institute, a 38% cut to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and a 42% cut to the National Institute on Aging.
The report adds that NIH grants “contributed to more than 99% of the 300-plus drugs approved by the FDA from 2010-2019, including drugs to treat metastatic breast cancer, reduce birth defects caused by viruses, and novel antibiotics to treat multidrug resistant ‘superbugs.’”