Latest congressional appropriations package funds the government for the 2026 fiscal year
WASHINGTON (Feb. 3, 2026)—Humane World Action Fund, formerly called Humane Society Legislative Fund, issued the following statement on Congress passing a FY2026 funding package for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the National Institutes of Health, among other federal agencies.
“At a moment when non animal, human relevant methods are proving safer, more accurate, and more effective, Congress should be accelerating that transition like it’s doing through supporting NIH’s Office of Research Innovation, Validation and Application (ORIVA), not funding more suffering in federal labs,” said Sara Amundson, president of Humane World Action Fund. “In its latest funding package, Congress advanced NIH’s shift toward human based research, but it also undermined that progress by providing $30 million to expand primate testing infrastructure. This investment goes to outdated and unreliable experiments that subject intelligent, social monkeys to extreme confinement and painful procedures—all at taxpayer expense—while slowing real advances in human health. The inclusion of this funding is out of line with Congress’s encouraging language in this package on NIH’s move away from animal testing.”
Earlier votes on federal funding packages produced more positive outcomes for animals. In November, Congress maintained funding for key U.S. Department of Agriculture enforcement and animal protection initiatives, advanced non-animal testing at the Food and Drug Administration, and upheld safeguards preventing the reopening of horse slaughter plants in the United States. And in January, protections for wild horses and endangered wildlife were among the funding wins for animals.
Media Contact: Liz Bartolomeo, 240-472-0475, ebartolomeo@humaneaction.org
