Dive Brief:
- Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels signaled that budget cuts likely to impact its employees and programs are coming as the private institution faces massive reductions in federal research funding under the Trump administration.
- The university is winding down grant activity connected to the U.S. Agency for International Development. The “unexpected stoppage” of USAID funds totals over $800 million for Johns Hopkins’ public health, medical and international health programs, Daniels said Tuesday in a campus message.
- “In response to these developments and other challenges on the horizon, we are taking thoughtful steps to reduce expenses and to budget prudently, while avoiding any precipitous actions,” Daniels said.
Dive Insight:
In his message, Daniels described a “more than eight-decade partnership with the federal government” for research.
In fiscal 2024, more than half of Johns Hopkins’s total operating revenue came from $4.8 billion in sponsored research revenue. About 88% of that figure came from the federal government.
The institution received just over $1 billion in fiscal 2024 just from the National Institutes of Health, according to a university publication that promotes its research. That was more than any other entity that brought in grant funding from NIH for the year, the university said.
Of that figure, $281.4 million went toward Johns Hopkins’ indirect research costs — funding that the Trump administration is trying to reduce drastically by capping it at 15% for research grants at each institution. At Johns Hopkins, indirect cost funding made up 27.5% of the institution’s NIH grant funding.
The NIH’s cuts to research funding are among several that the new administration has enacted, or attempted to, since President Donald Trump took office in January. Daniels described a “perplexing and distressing” current landscape for research universities that depend on government funding.
“Over the past six weeks, we have experienced a fast and far-reaching cascade of executive orders and agency actions affecting higher education and federally sponsored research,” Daniels said. “What began as stop work orders or pauses in grant funding allocations has morphed into cancellations and terminations.”
The university is among the institutions suing NIH over its plans, which have already sparked hiring and funding freezes at several research universities while they wait for the case to unfold. A federal judge overseeing multiple lawsuits related to NIH’s cuts on Wednesday issued an injunction blocking the agency from following through with the planned funding cap.
Daniels referenced the university’s participation in the litigation and the efforts to overturn the cuts, which plaintiffs and critics say violate statute, regulation and the NIH’s legal authority.
“However, at this time, we have little choice but to reduce some of our work in response to the slowing and stopping of grants and to adjust to an evolving legal landscape,” Daniels said.
The administration’s effort to dismantle USAID has also landed hard on Johns Hopkins. The $800-million reduction in USAID funding supported efforts such as maternal and infant care, disease prevention and clean drinking-water initiatives.
The Supreme court on Wednesday upheld a lower court order directing the administration to unfreeze $2 billion in funding through the agency, though it’s unclear if the decision will affect Johns Hopkins’ funding. The university did not immediately respond to questions.
Daniels pointed to more potential disruption ahead by warning of other “challenges on the horizon.”
“There are difficult moments before us, with impacts to budgets, personnel, and programs. Some will take time to fully understand and address; others will happen more quickly,” the president said.
As Johns Hopkins tries to adapt, its finance team will work with deans and budget officers to game out different potential funding scenarios and to plan accordingly. Daniels said the administration would be “thoughtful and transparent in our planning and budgeting, and to consult with our shared governance bodies.”
