Congresswomen Simon, Kelly, Trahan Lead Colleagues in Demanding Answers from Health Secretary, NIH Director on Impact of Government Shutdown on Biomedical Research and Clinical Trials

November 20, 2025
Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Lori Trahan (D-MA-03) led over two dozen members of Congress in writing to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to press the Departments for urgent information on the impact of the government shutdown on the development of and access to lifesaving, groundbreaking bioinnovation. The 32 members of Congress demanded that access to clinical trials remains uninterrupted in any future government shutdown and requested answers regarding what delays in grant review or clinical trial enrollment resulted from the Republicans’ federal government shutdown.  

During a government shutdown, the NIH cannot process new grant applications, award new grants, offer technical assistance to researchers, conduct basic or translational research, start new clinical trials at the Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, list new clinical trials, or allow new patients to enroll in trials on clinicaltrials.gov.   

In 2024, California’s 12th Congressional District received $332 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health. In particular, the University of California, Berkeley received 345 awards (totaling $158 million) last year, accounting for nearly half of this funding.  

In the letter to Secretary Kennedy, the members write:  

“We are concerned about the ramifications of the government shutdown on patient access to clinical trials. NIH did not process new clinical trial registrations or enrollments during the shutdown... 

“... These delays in patient access to promising new treatments, therapeutics, and care resulting from the government shutdown are unacceptable.” 

Congresswomen Simon, Kelly, and Trahan and members requested the following information by December 4, 2025:  

  • The number of NIH grant submissions that were received but unable to be reviewed during the government shutdown,  
  • The number of clinical trials that were scheduled to begin that were not able to during the government shutdown, 
  • The number of patients who would have been eligible to participate in these clinical trials, and  
  • The number of NIH-employed researchers who were furloughed and unable to conduct research during the government shutdown and the subject matter of their research. 

Congresswoman Simon has been a leader in public health and health access, including access to clinical trials and bioinnovation. In September 2025, Congresswoman Simon called on Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to resign as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services. In July 2025, Congresswoman Simon offered amendments to H.R.1, the Big Ugly Cruel Bill that would have prohibited cuts to Medicaid and protected clinical trials access and participation, reproductive health care, behavioral health care, and family caregiving training and stipends. In May 2025, Congresswomen Simon and Jahana Hayes (D-CT-05) introduced the See the Board Act, legislation directing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to make grants available to nonprofits that provide free, mobile vision services for K-12 students in public schools. 

You can read the letter text here and find more on the letter below.  

Congresswomen Simon, Kelly, and Trahan were joined by Representatives Nanette Barragan (CA-44), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Andre Carson (IN-07), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Angie Craig (MN-02), Madeline Dean (PA-04), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10),Dwight Evans (PA-03), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Jesus Garcia (IL-04), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Henry "Hank” Johnson (GA-04), Julie Johnson (TX-32), Timothy Kennedy (NY-26), Gregory Landsman (OH-01), Summer Lee (PA-12), Sam Liccardo (CA-16), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Doris Matsui (CA-07), Betty McCollum (MN-04), James “Jim” McGovern (MA-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC),Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05),Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12),and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12). 

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