The White House has canceled nearly $28 million in federal grants for animal experiments as agencies move toward nonanimal methods. The shift touches primate work at federal labs and raises urgent questions for patients, scientists, and animal advocates, CBS News reports.
“We’re witnessing a watershed moment right now,” Justin Goodman of White Coat Waste, whose group is pressing Congress to rein in spending on animal tests, told CBS.
The White House canceled nearly $28 million in federal animal research grants.
What Changes—and What Doesn’t
More than 100,000 nonhuman primates are held or used for U.S. research each year. Many studies are funded through NIH programs that channel hundreds of millions of dollars to primate centers, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine’s analysis of federal data, published in its Good Science Digest. NIH has announced a new push to prioritize human-based technologies—organoids, tissue chips, and advanced modeling—over animal use.
These tools “will accelerate innovation, improve health outcomes, and deliver life-changing treatments,” said NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.
Federal agencies announced plans to phase down animal testing across programs.
New Primates, New Scrutiny
Despite phase-down pledges, NIH has quietly approved millions for fresh primate projects. One kidney-transplant study will use about 99 monkeys purchased from a South Carolina supplier, with $1.4 million awarded in July and $10.1 million planned through 2030, CBS News reports.
“The NIH’s rhetoric about reducing animal testing doesn’t match reality,” Goodman said, pointing to dozens of newly funded primate experiments. Meanwhile, up to 4,000 federally owned rhesus macaques remain on South Carolina’s Morgan Island—long a source of lab animals—keeping pressure on policymakers to define what “phase out” actually means.
NIH funds National Primate Research Centers with hundreds of millions of dollars.
Budget Knives and a New Office
Animal advocates hail NIH’s plan to create an Office of Research Innovation, Validation, and Application (ORIVA) to advance nonanimal methods. But a separate debate looms over money. The Trump administration’s proposal would drop NIH from $48.5 billion in 2025 to $27 billion in 2026, consolidate institutes, and slash indirect “overhead” from 40% to 15%—a cut that could shutter animal facilities outright, Animals 24-7 reports.
White Coat Waste founder Anthony Bellotti argued that ORIVA includes “NO phaseout… NO deadline… NO lab $ cut,” while Animal Wellness Action’s Wayne Pacelle hailed April 2025 as “the month when everything began to turn around,” underscoring the split over whether reforms are genuine or budget-driven.
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said human-based methods will accelerate treatments.
The Stakes for Patients and Science
Experts caution against a cliff-edge end to animal studies before replacements are validated.
“The question is when… The answer is not tomorrow,” said Paul Locke of Johns Hopkins, who supports accelerating alternatives while guarding scientific rigor, CBS News reports.
Physicians Committee filings urge NIH neuroscience leaders to phase out monkeys and fund human-based methods in tandem with the new initiative. The next decisions—on funding, timelines, and standards—will decide whether the United States replaces animal research or simply reduces research.
