Johns Hopkins braces for cuts amid federal funding fight

Racquel Bazos, Baltimore Sun on Mar 11, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Cuts to the Johns Hopkins University might be on the way as federal funding for the school’s research is under fire from the Trump administration, according to a letter posted by the school’s Office of the President.

Referencing a “cascade of executive orders and agency actions,” Johns Hopkins President Ron Daniels wrote that he anticipated possible reductions in research work at the school.

“Cuts to federal research will affect research faculty, students, and staff and will ripple through our university,” Daniels wrote. “Budgets, personnel, and programs” could all be impacted, he said.

Nearly half of the school’s incoming funding last year was from federal research, he said. In fiscal 2023, Hopkins was the top recipient of National Institutes of Health funding at over $840 million, according to Forbes.

“Johns Hopkins alone has more than 600 ongoing clinical trials researching cancer, children’s health, the aging brain, and more that are currently being threatened by NIH cuts,” the university said on the Hub, its internal news website.

Hopkins has already lost programs to the flurry of cuts made by the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk. USAID, one of the first government agencies slashed by DOGE, contributed nearly $800 million to Hopkins, Daniels said.

Among the “USAID grant-related activities” the university is “winding down” is Jhpiego, a nonprofit focusing on women’s health initiatives in the developing world, alongside other programs in the university’s schools of medicine and public health, Daniels wrote.

Hopkins and other universities across the country are also suing the NIH over funding caps for research. Hopkins referred The Baltimore Sun to Daniels’ letter when asked for comment on potential cuts.

Johns Hopkins is one of the largest private employers in the state of Maryland, with over 40,000 employees in its medical system in 2023 and an additional almost 12,000 employed at the university, according to staffing numbers in 2021-2022. Hopkins estimates that in fiscal year 2022, it generated more than $15.1 billion in economic output and 93,643 jobs in Maryland.

_____