Trump signs women’s health order, but leaves research funding unspecified

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on 19 October establishing a White House Women’s Health Task Force and directing officials to create a Women’s Health Division at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within 90 days. Backed by first lady Melania Trump, the order aims to strengthen research and bring findings into clinical practice, but it sets no specific funding target for new research or care. [1] [2] [6]

The task force, co-chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, is to coordinate federal work on women’s health, from prevention to treatment. The planned NIH division has a separate brief: to advance research, improve methods including the inclusion of women and girls in clinical trials, and help put discoveries into practice. The order does not establish that the division is operating yet. [2] [6]

Nor would it be NIH’s first women’s health research body. The new division is required to work with the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health, established in 1990. Its location within NIH and staffing remain to be decided. [2] [5]

Trump’s order also revokes a 2024 executive order and a 2023 memorandum issued by Joe Biden; the memorandum established an interagency women’s health research initiative in the then first lady’s office. The Trump White House describes the change as a move beyond research towards better care. But Biden’s 2024 order also called for research advances to improve health outcomes, while the 2023 initiative included recommendations for practical benefits to patients and clinicians. The revocations concern those presidential measures, not every existing research programme or statutory NIH responsibility. [1] [2] [3] [4]

The health department must cover the task force’s administrative costs, while implementation of the wider order is subject to available funding. Whether the initiative brings additional research resources or changes patient care will depend on subsequent decisions. [2] [6]