A statement from GO2 for Lung Cancer’s President and CEO Laurie Ambrose on the proposed federal budget cuts

The President recently submitted a Fiscal Year 2026 budget request that proposes yet again deep cuts to and elimination of key areas of medical research responsible for advancing new treatment breakthroughs and cures that impact our community’s collective health and well-being. To say it is alarming is an understatement. The budget request would cut nearly 40% of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), our premier health agency, along with a 44% cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other key science and health–related agencies. These cuts to critical medical research have happened without the benefit of any data–driven review justifying this draconian action. The result is a budget request that takes hope away from people anxious to know what clinical trial or treatment option will be available for them next. And it slows–if not halts–momentum that has been delivering revolutionary medical progress that is extending and saving lives for people locally and globally.

For the lung cancer community, already adversely impacted by the 57% needless cuts to the Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP) in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) in the FY25 Continuing Resolution enacted earlier this year, this new budget request is a double whammy to both our service men and women at higher risk for lung cancer and the general public navigating their lung cancer journey.

We urge our lawmakers to reject this proposal and reallocate federal funding that invests–not cuts–critical medical research. This will continue to provide people with real and tangible hope that breakthroughs and cures are around the corner and sustain our standing as the global leader in science and technology innovation.

Laurie Ambrose
President and CEO