GOP congressman slams Trump's proposed cuts to NIH, CDC: 'You're much more likely to die in a pandemic than a terrorist attack'

Republican Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.) deemed President Trump's proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's budgets "short-sighted" in an interview Friday on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "These are investments the country ought to be making," said Cole, a member of the House Appropriations and Budget Committees. He made clear he was not in favor of the 2018 budget blueprint's proposal to significantly slash NIH funding and reallocate CDC funding to states, suggesting Trump should instead look to entitlement reform to support "wise" increases to military spending.
Cole argued that defense spending — which Trump's budget blueprint calls for ratcheting up by $54 billion — is no more important than investing in health research. "You're much more likely to die in a pandemic than a terrorist attack, and so that's part of the defense of the country as well," Cole said. "The CDC is what protects you from things like Ebola and Zika. The NIH, we have 1.6 million Americans a year that contract cancer. About 600,000 die. That is more people than died in the Civil War, the bloodiest war in American history."
The Oklahoma congressman also voiced concern about the budget's call for cutting the Environmental Protection Agency's budget by as much as 30 percent. Cole pointed out "almost half" of the EPA's $8.3 billion budget goes to "grants for clean water and tribal grants, things of that nature." "I think those are popular and pretty well-served," Cole said, though he conceded that some of the agency's regulatory measures "are not particularly popular, and I don't think particularly helpful."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Catch Cole's interview below. Becca Stanek
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Generation Z: done with democracy?
Talking Point Allure of authoritarianism is no surprise when young people have grown up in a democracy 'that seems unable to deliver its basic functions'
By The Week UK Published
-
Codeword: February 9, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku hard: February 9, 2025
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Federal judges block Trump citizenship order
Speed Read A second judge has blocked the president's order to end citizenship for children born on American soil to parents without legal status
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
DOGE official at Treasury resigns after racist posts
Speed Read Marko Elez's ability to access the Treasury's central government payment system has been rescinded
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Trump orders ban on trans female athletes
speed read The order directs the federal government to withhold funding from schools that do not comply
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Musk's DOGE gains access to Medicare, eyes FAA
speed read The billionaire said his Department of Government Efficiency will make 'rapid safety upgrades' to our air traffic control systems
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump: US 'will take over' Gaza, without Palestinians
Speed Read President Trump has suggested the US take ownership of Gaza, permanently displacing more than two million Palestinian residents
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Democrats try to stop Trump's USAID closure
Speed Read Trump and Elon Musk are attempting to dismantle the US Agency for International Development, a move congressional Democrats say is illegal
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China rattle markets
Speed read The tariffs on America's top three trading partners are expected to raise the prices of everything from gas and cars to tomatoes and tequila
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published