The federal agency responsible for studying ways to improve the United States healthcare system has lost three-quarters of its workforce and seen more than $250 million in research grants canceled. Health policy experts say it may not survive.
The agency in question is the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, known as AHRQ. It has focused on patient safety, healthcare quality, care delivery, and new medical technologies and practices since the 1990s. According to Ars Technica, health policy experts Aaron Carroll and David Atkins published an opinion piece in the Annals of Internal Medicine warning that whether the agency "will survive the second Trump administration is an open question."
During Trump's second term, cuts linked to DOGE led to the firing or retirement of an estimated 75 percent of AHRQ's staff. In July, the agency abruptly sent grant cancellation letters to around 150 researchers. More than 100 research grants, collectively worth over $250 million, have been canceled. Congress appropriated $345 million for AHRQ in fiscal year 2026, but much of that money has gone unspent. Only $15 million has gone to grants so far.
As a result, scientists across more than 30 states have halted research projects, laid off staff, shut down programs, and stopped pursuing new lines of inquiry.
Carroll and Atkins wrote that "Republican leaders recognized that health care disparities were fundamental quality problems" in the past, but that recently, disparities in care have become partisan issues. Beyond the immediate loss of data and research findings, the two health policy experts said the damage extends to the scientific community's long-term capacity. "This is what it looks like when we stop developing the next generation of health services researchers," they wrote.
Reversing the damage is possible but will be difficult, according to Carroll and Atkins, who called on Congress to act. The opinion piece did not specify what legislative steps Congress should take, but framed the situation as one requiring intervention from lawmakers.
AHRQ's work has historically had bipartisan support because improving patient safety and reducing medical errors saves money as well as lives. The agency has produced research used by hospitals, insurers, and policymakers across the country. With its staff gutted and its grant pipeline frozen, researchers at universities and medical institutions in more than 30 states are now operating without funding they had planned around.
