Representative Scott Peters

Dear [salutation],

It's great to be home in San Diego meeting with community members and organizations doing important work in CA50.

Throughout August, my weekly newsletter will feature a series analyzing key policies that affect San Diego. This week I'm talking about the importance of science funding and how President Trump’s anti-science agenda is weakening the U.S. and harming San Diego.

What science means to San Diego

San Diego is home to one of the country’s largest life sciences ecosystems, including world-class public and private research institutions that turn breakthrough discoveries into much-needed therapies and cures. We have over 1,000 life science companies, including most of the major biopharmaceutical companies who rely on our talent base for their research. But most are small, scrappy startups trying to solve hard science problems with private risk capital.

CA50 receives nearly $1 billion in National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding every year. With the help of the private sector, the San Diego region leveraged its public research funding to generate more than $54 billion of total economic output in 2024. It's a major source of pride for our community as well as a crucial part of our local and national economy. For every $1.00 we invest in NIH research, our economy grows by $2.50. In 2024, the life sciences industry directly employed 71,448 people and supported a total of 166,907 jobs throughout San Diego.

President Trump’s attacks on medical research

I’ve long advocated to increase the NIH budget, and it's risen from $29 billion to $47.5 billion since I came to Congress. Since his Inauguration, President Trump has worked to cut the NIH and National Science Foundation (NSF) budgets, freeze grant funding that was already approved by Congress, and cap spending on crucial support infrastructure like lab space, utilities, cybersecurity, and other equipment. President Trump has proposed cutting roughly 40 percent from the NIH’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget. A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis found that these cuts will lead to 53 fewer drugs coming to market over the next 30 years. That’s 53 fewer treatments and cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s, rare diseases, and countless other terrible illnesses.

“Brain Drain”

President Trump’s cuts to research funding won’t just make Americans sicker. Grant freezes and cancellations are weakening the U.S. on the world stage. My friend, Dr. Ardem Patapoutian is a Nobel Prize winner and Scripps Research Professor. He is studying new approaches to treat pain, but in February, he received notice that his grant would be frozen. Esteemed UCLA mathematician Terence Tao’s research has improved MRI technology to be faster and smarter. His NSF grant was cut recently. Both of these researchers are among the best and brightest minds from around the world working here to make life-changing medical and scientific discoveries. China has now attempted to recruit them both as they are eager to fill the void we’re creating in the life sciences and innovation space.

And it’s not just established researchers who are now faced with the choice of enduring an uphill funding battle with the Trump Administration or leaving the U.S. for a country who will support their work. Applications for graduate student or postdoctoral positions in the United States has dropped sharply as students are applying for jobs abroad since President Trump took office. America has long been a beacon for innovation. Now, the cure for cancer, the invention of a machine to detect disease at its earliest stages, or the vaccine for the next pandemic could all happen in China instead of here at home. How does this “Make America Great Again?”

The Trump Administration’s approach to science and biomedical research is a threat to our health and our international strength. Every family knows the pain of watching a loved one in the clutches of a life-threatening illness and would give anything for more time with them. Every American wants the U.S. to lead the world in scientific discovery. Our government should invest more, not less, in science.

Scott’s Reads

This article further examines how U.S.-China relations are growing even more strained due to the ongoing trade war and other factors.
This article talks about France’s “Safe Place for Science” program which is attempting to lure U.S. academic researchers in response to our aggressive funding cuts.

Finally, I aim for this newsletter to be an informative, fact-based recap of what’s happening in Washington and the work I’m doing to address what’s important to San Diego. If you know folks who would appreciate these updates like you do, please feel free to forward this email or encourage them to sign up to receive them here.

Thanks, and take care.

Scott H. Peters
Member of Congress

What science means to San Diego

President Trump’s attacks on medical research

“Brain Drain”

Scott’s Reads

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