UC President Milliken urges Congress to address federal grant delays

UC President James Milliken urged Congress to address federal research grant disbursement delays in a July 29 letter.

Grant disbursement delays have disproportionately impacted UC researchers because the University is a top recipient of federal research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, Milliken said in the letter to the California Congressional delegation.

The NIH’s award rate is 22% below the typical pace and the NSF’s award rate is 39% below its pace in recent years as of July 13, according to the letter.

“The federal government’s partnership with UC has always been essential to America’s unmatched leadership in science and innovation, and today the significance of our work together is more important than ever,” Milliken said in the letter.

[Related: One year after $584 million federal funding freeze, UCLA research still recovering]

The federal government froze $584 million in UCLA’s research grants from the NIH, NSF and United States Department of Energy in July 2025, alleging that the university allowed affirmative action, antisemitism and “men to participate in women’s sports.”

[Related: Federal government suspends research funding to UCLA]

A federal judge restored most of the grants in August and September and separately ruled in November that the Trump administration could not freeze or threaten to freeze the UC’s federal research funding.

Recent disbursement delays have limited labs from hiring postdoctoral and graduate students, created delays in onboarding faculty and staff and weakened research partnerships.

The UC has also reduced spending on administrative and facilities costs as a result of the delays, Milliken said in the letter.

“Delays in federal research funding affect the economy, biomedical advances, technology commercialization, national security research, and partnerships between academia and industry,” Milliken said in the letter. “If not addressed in the immediate future, the slow spend rate will detrimentally impact our ability to lead the nation and the world in scientific research.”