The Trump Administration’s Quiet Take Down Of Healthcare Safety Agency

InnovationHealthcareThe Trump Administration’s Quiet Take Down Of Healthcare Safety AgencyByBruce Y. Lee,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Bruce Y. Lee, M.D., MBA, covers health, medicine, wellness and scienceFollow AuthorAug 24, 2026, 10:33pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.SummaryThe Trump administration is quietly dismantling the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in 2026, an agency crucial for improving healthcare safety and quality. AHRQ, which has saved thousands of lives and billions in costs through its research, recently halted over 100 grants and has not issued new ones for over a year, despite Congressional funding. This move follows previous attempts by the Trump administration to eliminate AHRQ. The agency has lost three-quarters of its personnel, and a lawsuit has been filed alleging a violation of law for not spending allocated funds. Critics warn that sidelining AHRQ's vital work on medical errors and infections will have severe, long-term consequences for patient care, reflecting a broader trend of reducing scientific oversight in federal agencies.Show More Since 2025, the Trump administration has been progressively shrinking the personnel and activities of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the only federal agency focused on supporting work and research into improving the safety and quality of healthcare. (Photo by Jeffrey Basinger/Newsday via Getty Images)Newsday via Getty ImagesYou probably heard about the Trump administration’s rapid take down in 2025 of the U.S. Agency for International Development after it had been around for 63 years. Well, in 2026, the Trump administration been doing a much quieter take down of another long-standing federal agency—the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The repercussions of this takedown of AHRQ, though, will likely be heard...