McCormick and Fetterman press RFK Jr. over canceled research grants

McCormick, a Republican, and Fetterman, a Democrat, wrote that researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, known as CHOP, and the University of Pittsburgh, were notified on July 15 about the cancellation of funding for ongoing, multi-year projects. 

“These cancellations are affecting awards that have undergone peer review and have received prior-year funding,” McCormick and Fetterman write in the letter to Kennedy. “Abruptly ending these multi-year projects, after substantial federal investment, risks wasting taxpayer resources while disrupting research, eliminating jobs, and delaying innovations to improve patient care.”

The senators said that they appreciate the department’s commitment to “ensuring federally funded research promotes scientific rigor and delivers meaningful value for taxpayers,” however, they also “believe these objectives should be balanced with consideration of projects that have already undergone review and received federal funding.” 

“Careful stewardship of federal research spending is important to maintaining public trust in our nation’s research enterprise,” the two Pennsylvania lawmakers write to Kennedy. 

As the department implements reforms, McCormick and Fetterman believe that it is “imperative that changes are carried out in a manner that preserves the value of existing federal investments.” 

“To that end, the recent decision to end continuation funding for ongoing AHRQ grants may create uncertainty around federal research support, making it harder for institutions to plan long-term projects, retain experienced researchers, and pursue future scientific breakthroughs,” McCormick and Fetterman said. “Over time, this instability risks weakening our nation’s leadership in scientific research.”

McCormick and Fetterman have requested a briefing from the department by Sept. 25 on its approach to those funding decisions.

In that briefing, the senators want to see the criteria the department uses to determine which AHRQ grants will be canceled and which will continue, and how it considers prior federal investment, project progress, and potential disruptions to research and personnel when making these decisions. 

They also want to know whether affected institutions have opportunities to seek reconsideration or otherwise mitigate the impact of terminated funding, and the plans to reallocate funds that would otherwise have supported the affected grants, as well as the department’s long-term plan for AHRQ and the role it plays in supporting research.

The letter was shared by McCormick’s office less than one week after he took the stage at the Republican Party’s midterm convention in Texas, where he made the case that President Donald Trump and the GOP have delivered for Americans. Fetterman also made a video appearance at that same convention to introduce McCormick. 

Although McCormick is an ally of the president, he has voiced concerns in the past about potential cuts the president would make to research.  

In late May, during a visit to Penn Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alongside National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, McCormick touted the impact the agency has had on the Keystone State and called for increased funding.

And during a telephone town hall in June 2025, McCormick expressed concern about potential NIH grant cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency.

His office also noted that he and Fetterman, in May, urged NIH to move “quickly to obligate congressionally approved FY2026 grant funding, citing the importance of federal research investments to Pennsylvania jobs, scientific breakthroughs, and U.S. leadership in biomedical research.”