Gov. Reynolds remains silent as DOGE cuts medical research

In January, Gov. Kim Reynolds pledged $1 million to fund a team of epidemiologists who would work to understand Iowa’s growing cancer rate.

“Every case of cancer is a tragedy,” Reynolds said. “And I’m concerned by the data showing that these tragedies disproportionately affect Iowans. Our state has ranked second for new cancer cases two years running, and we’re one of just two states with rising rates.”

It was among the best received portions of her Condition of the State speech. She talked about her husband Kevin’s lung cancer diagnosis. Thankfully, she said his cancer is in remission.

Just hearing the governor acknowledge the problem was a small victory.

That’s why it’s so disappointing and maddening that Reynolds has remained silent as the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, has pushed for federal funding and staff cuts disrupting important cancer research.

The University of Iowa stands to lose $33.6 million in federal research funding from the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s largest funder of cancer research. The Iowa Cancer Registry, which produces the cancer case numbers cited by the governor, is bracing for a 44% cut expected to hit the National Cancer Institute, which created the network of cancer registries, now in 46 states.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty and we don’t yet know where the cuts are going to have an impact,” Iowa Cancer Registry Director Sarah Nash said on Iowa PBS’ “Iowa Press” program.

Nash called cuts “potentially devastating,” according to Radio Iowa.

In February, NPR reported on potential cuts to the federally funded Iowa Cancer Affiliate Network, which connects rural hospitals to medical specialists so Iowans can receive cancer treatments closer to home. IPR News talked to cancer researchers in Iowa who said cuts are delaying or canceling potentially lifesaving research.

NPR interviewed Bri McNulty, who was one of the 66 applicants out of more than 1,000 who received a fellowship from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She was assigned to the Iowa Cancer Consortium, where she advocated prevention measures and tracked disease trends.

In February, McNulty was removed from her “dream job” along with 1,300 people let go amid CDC budget cuts. In an email, she was told her “ability, knowledge and skills do not fit the agency's current needs.”

"People hear that there are cuts being made in CDC and their thought is, 'Oh, they're only getting cut from DC or Atlanta' — and that's just not true," McNulty told NPR. "Federal employees, field workers specifically, we are in your communities and doing the help that we can."

IPR spoke with Ellen Voigt, a student on track to earn her MD and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. She wants to work in medical research but may have to move to Europe.

“I have to go to where I can be supported to do the career that I've been trained for. So, it's just really disheartening,” she told IPR.

Also under threat from cuts is medical research done by the Department of Veterans Affairs, including potential treatments for colorectal and lung cancers. Trump administration officials have promised to shield 300,000 front-line VA workers. So, savings must come from other areas, including research.

The bottom line is treatment breakthroughs may not break through. Research into promising innovations could grind to a halt. Delayed research could cost lives. Talented people are leaving.

There’s also an economic cost. The New York Times reports a study by economists at American University found potential research cuts of 25% would shrink the nation’s gross domestic product by 3.8%, akin to its drop during the Great Recession.

Why? Because this is what voters wanted, Trump loyalists claim. Shut up and take it, America.

But a governor concerned about cancer shouldn’t be standing by silently.

Instead, Reynolds has had nothing but praise for Trump and DOGE. She went to Washington, D.C. to warmly embrace DOGE before a Congressional committee and even convened Iowa’s own DOGE task force to search for cuts here.

“This is a different administration from the first go around,” Reynolds said at the Common Sense Institute of Iowa’s Free Enterprise Summit in March, according to the Iowa Capitol Dispatch. “I think they’ve spent the last four years really preparing for this opportunity. They’ve hit the ground running, the pace is incredible.”

Incredible? Damaging, reckless and chaotic are more accurate.

Our Republican-controlled Statehouse has its own poor record on health care. In 2023, GOP lawmakers removed a requirement that school districts inform students about HPV vaccinations, which have been found to prevent 90% of cervical cancers and other cancer categories.

This past week, Republicans in the Iowa Senate approved legislation that would require a parent’s permission to get the HPV vaccine. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has spread disinformation about the vaccine. Some parents believe, wrongly, the shot encourages promiscuity.

Another bill likely to receive Reynolds’ signature would require school districts to put information about immunization exemptions, for religious or medical reasons, on forms and websites. Backers say the bill is all about providing information. And yet it doesn’t also require schools to note immunizations are tested, safe and highly effective at preventing serious, potentially fatal, diseases.

Lawmakers also sent Reynolds a bill that would prohibit schools from using any reproductive health information in classrooms that comes from groups that promote abortion, have contacts with those groups or are affiliated with abortion providers.

Democrats pointed out the bill casts a very wide net, outlawing information from the Mayo Clinic and other respected organizations.

Under the Golden Dome of Wisdom, now redder than rose colored glasses, investigations into the cause of Iowa cancer rates likely won’t point to the possibility of farm fertilizers and chemicals being part of the problem. We’re feeding the world! This is fine.

Instead, lawmakers spent a lot of time this session considering a bill that would shield Bayer, the maker of glyphosate, from lawsuits over health problems resulting from use.

Lawmakers are self-appointed authorities on gender affirming treatment and child psychology. They’ll mansplain why women’s reproductive rights must be canceled. They’re weekday epidemiologists who side with vaccine opponents.

In March, The House Environmental Protection Committee debated and passed a bill with 23 Republican sponsors making it illegal to emit chemicals into the atmosphere with the intent of altering the weather. Yep, chemtrails. The Golden Dome briefly was replaced with a tinfoil hat.

Meanwhile, real health threats and research cuts are ignored.

So, given the current condition of the Republican Party, it is little wonder objections have not been raised as Trump hobbles medical research. Republicans here long ago concluded that crossing this president will cause their ambitions to flatline. The only known cure is political courage. Supplies are limited.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com