Since January, the federal government has slashed funding in Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies as part of a sustained attack on the nation’s public health, mental health, and biomedical research infrastructure. As a state with top-tier hospitals, research universities, Ph.D. programs, and state agencies with high levels of federal funding, Ohio could be hit hard.
The scope of the damage
These cuts include layoffs of 10,000 people (25% of the HHS workforce),[1] and an additional request to cut spending on contracts by 35%.[2] Even cancer research, once seen as untouchable, has seen significant cuts.[3] The administration has also slashed National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants to major universities[4] and more than $12 billion in federal grants[5] to help states track infectious disease (like the measles outbreak in Texas), mental health services, and substance misuse treatment.
Many of these cuts follow HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s directive to focus on chronic disease over infectious disease.[6] This includes substantial cuts to HIV programs across the country, including cancelling more than 230 research grants funding HIV and AIDS research.[7]
The DOGE website lists HHS as its number one target for cuts.[8] The country’s top tobacco regulator has already been removed from his job with the Food and Drug Administration[9] and the administration is moving forward with plans to cut more than $1 billion in funding for a program that provides vaccinations in poor nations.[10]
Overdose and substance misuse prevention has been particularly targeted by the cuts, threatening recent progress in the fight to end the opioid epidemic.[11] The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) recently announced it was laying off 100 workers (10% of its staff),[12] including some who staff the 9-8-8 hotline, a lifesaving hotline for suicide prevention and mental health crises. SAMSHA staff also provide the expertise, support, and data tracking to manage the State Opioid and Stimulant Response Grant, a key part of Ohio’s response to the opioid crisis.[13]
Potential impacts on Ohio
In Ohio, NIH funding cuts will cost $480 million dollars and over 2,000 jobs.[14] In 2024, Jobs Ohio reported that NIH funding had reached $1 billion the previous year, including more than $250 million for the Ohio State University and $194 million for Case Western Reserve University and its partner University Hospitals. These dollars also fund research centers across the state, including Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cleveland Clinic, University of Cincinnati, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.[15] Many of these research grants may be at risk of funding decreases, sudden cuts, higher levels of scrutiny, and academic censorship.
A spokesman for OSU reported that $700 million of the university’s $1.5 billion in research spending in 2023 was federally funded.[16] In 2023, the NIH awarded Ohio State’s College of Medicine more than $237 million in grants, contracts, and subcontracts.[17] Given how broad and vague the criteria for cuts have been, much or all of this funding may be under threat.
Some of the federal cuts could impact programs that many Ohioans rely on. For example, HeadStart, a federal program that provides free early childhood education, would be eliminated under a White House proposal that was leaked to the press.[18] If this program was eliminated, it would put additional strain on Ohio’s already struggling childcare infrastructure.[19]
State lawmakers could further the impact of these cuts through trigger language in the House version of the state budget that gives the state permission to decrease, pause, or eliminate programs funded with federal dollars if Congress changes funding to any federal program.[20] While this is proposed as a measure to limit state funding obligations, it could also cause immediate cuts to programs Ohioans rely on.
There have been strong responses to these cuts all over the country. A federal judge recently blocked $11 billion dollars in HHS cuts, and there are multiple active lawsuits related to the funding decreases and layoffs.[21] But the reality is that much of the damage to our HHS infrastructure could take years or decades to repair. These cuts are a major loss for the federal workers who have lost their jobs, Ohioans cut off from lifesaving and sustaining health resources, researchers locked out of their groundbreaking work, and the people of Ohio.
[1] Tin, Alexander; Dr. Céline Gounder. RFK Jr. to lay off more NIH employees amid HHS restructuring, officials say. CBS News, April 4, 2025.
[2] Stein, Rob; Lupkin, Sydney; Noguchi, Yuki; Wroth, Carmel. On top of layoffs, HHS ordered to cut 35% of spending on contracts. NPR: Shots. April 3, 2025.
[3] Chen, Angus (2025). Cancer research, long protected, feels ‘devastating’ effects under Trump. STAT. March 24, 2025.
[4] Seminera, Makyya (2025). Universities are facing big cuts to research funding. At Duke, it’s a time for ‘damage control.’ AP.
[5] Mandavilli, Apoorva; Sanger-Katz, Margot; Hoffman, Jan (2025). Trump Administration Abruptly Cuts Billions from State Health Services. New York Times.
[6] Heidt, Amanda and Ledford, Heidi (2025). Vaccine sceptic RFK Jr is now a powerful force in US science Nature.
[7] Adams, Rosalind (2025). Trump makes sweeping HIV research and grant cuts: ‘Setting us back decades.’
[8] Department for Government Efficiency (2025). ”Savings.”
[9] Mathew, Perrone (2025). FDA tobacco official is removed from post in latest blow to health agency’s leadership. AP.
[10] Taylor, Adam and Martinez, Emmanuel (2025). Trump cuts to USAID halt funding for global vaccinations. The Washington Post.
[11] Shihipar, Abdullah and Marshall, Brandon (2025). Gutting the Government Could Reignite the Drug Overdose Epidemic. New Republic.
[12] Broderick,O. Rose (2025).‘Deliberate trauma’: SAMHSA employees detail a federal agency in shambles. STAT.
[13] The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (2025). State Opioid and Stimulant Response Grant.
[14] SCIMAP: View Impact of Federal Cuts: ”Ohio.”(2025) The University of Maryland, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Utah, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Oregon.
[15] Allchin, Tyler (2025). Ohio Reaches $1 Billion in NIH Funding. JobsOhio.
[16] Ferenchik, Mark (2025). Ohio State officials figuring out how federal funding ‘pause’ will impact university. WOSU. The Ohio State University has a website dedicated to the administration transition.
[17] Press Room. College of Medicine research funding jumps 53M setting new record (2023). The Ohio State University.
[18] First reported by the Washington Post. Sun, Lena; Johnson, Carolyn; et.al. (2025). Internal budget document reveals extent of Trump’s proposed health cuts.
[19] Smith, Ali; Poe, Kathryn; Smith, Heather (2025). Ohio’s Child Care Crisis, 2025. Policy Matters Ohio.
[20] Sec. 126.10. (A)-(B). House Bill 96 As Passed through the House. Page 408.
[21] Queen, Jack (2025). US Judge blocks $11 Billion Trump administration health funding cut for now. Reuters.