President Trump today signed an executive order directing the creation of a National Institutes of Health division and a White House task force focused on women's health.
“That's a big deal. They've been after it for a long time," Trump said at a White House event, where he credited First Lady Melania Trump with the initiative. “When I heard about it, I said, ‘Are you sure they don’t have that?’ Who the hell wouldn't have a woman's health division? Melania said they don't have it.”
The first lady reportedly pushed the administration for a greater emphasis on women’s health. She added her signature to the executive order after the president signed it.
The NIH does have an Office of Research on Women’s Health, which was established in 1990. Trump’s order directs the secretary of Health and Human Services and the head of the NIH to establish the new division within 90 days. That new division, according to Trump’s order and HHS, will coordinate with the existing office to expand work on understudied aspects of women’s health and speed the translation of scientific research into better prevention, diagnosis, treatment and clinical care.
“This new division will help close lingering evidence gaps, expand and maximize the impact of our research investments, and bring discoveries closer to patients,” NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement.
HHS said the new division will advance research into cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, chronic pain, endometriosis, fibroids, polyendocrine metabolic ovary syndrome, infertility, maternal health, menopause, osteoporosis and other conditions.
The NIH reportedly spends about $5 billion a year on women’s health, and it’s unclear how Trump’s executive order will affect that or how much funding will be directed toward the new division and its goals.
The Trump administration has previously proposed sharp healthcare cuts, including a proposal as part of the president’s budget for fiscal year 2026 to cut the NIH budget by about 40% compared to 2025 levels. Congress rejected that request. The president’s budget for fiscal 2027 requested a budget cut of about $5 billion, or about 12%, for the NIH. A previous executive order signed by Trump seeks to give political appointees control over NIH grantmaking.
Separately, Trump’s new White House task force on women’s health will be led by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump’s order calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to provide funding for the administrative costs of the new task force.
Trump’s order also revokes a March 2024 executive order by President Joe Biden on advancing women's health research and a November 2023 Biden memo creating a White House initiative on women’s health research.