Trump administration slashes AHRQ grants, jeopardizing hospital safety programs

Under the Trump administration, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has seen most of its workforce depart and its grant-review function dismantled, effectively halting its ability to fund safety-focused research. In mid-July, the agency mailed near-identical notices to researchers terminating at least 104 grants, many of which targeted infection control, antibiotic resistance, and high-risk obstetric care. Congressional appropriations allocated $345 million for AHRQ this fiscal year, yet less than $15 million has been spent on grants, and no new awards have been made in over a year.

Senator Tammy Baldwin reported that $94 million in awards were eliminated, while the Society of General Internal Medicine and the North American Primary Care Research Group have sued the agency’s leaders. The Government Accountability Office is examining whether the actions constitute illegal impoundment, and a federal judge in Boston ruled that agencies may not cancel awards after establishing them. Critics argue the cuts undermine decades of progress that reduced central-line bloodstream infections by 41 percent and prevented thousands of deaths.