Congress cuts off NIH funding for animal research abroad
S. 1802 — CARGO Act of 2025 · Filed by Rick Scott (R-FL) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced May 19, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits the National Institutes of Health from funding animal research conducted outside the United States. It bars NIH grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for any live-animal research project unless the work happens on U.S. soil or in U.S. territories. The stated rationale is that foreign research organizations receiving U.S. taxpayer money lack adequate oversight and self-report animal welfare, creating risk of mistreatment.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a geographic restriction on NIH funding for live-animal research, grounded in animal-welfare and taxpayer-accountability concerns. It is not a deregulation, subsidy, or commemorative measure—it is a conditional funding prohibition.
What the text implies
- May incentivize relocation of NIH-funded animal research to U.S. facilities, increasing domestic research infrastructure costs and potentially raising the cost of NIH-funded studies.
- Could reduce U.S. researchers' ability to conduct comparative or population-specific studies in non-U.S. settings where certain animal models or disease prevalence are more readily available.
The full analysis lists 5 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
U.S.-based research institutions and universities; Domestic contract research organizations (CROs) conducting animal research; U.S. animal-care and facility-management service providers