New Animal Research Oversight Office Proposed in President’s FY2027 Budget

By: Galen Cobb
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
The President's Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget proposal includes the creation of a new Office of Animal Research Protections (OARP) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to the HHS Budget in Brief, OARP would be fully independent of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), housed alongside the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and Appeals, and charged with providing “education and guidance regarding the ethical, humane, and scientifically sound conduct of research involving animals" and helping to ensure that HHS-supported animal research "can ethically and humanely deliver compliant, trustworthy data that advances health."

The proposed office would operate within an oversight landscape that already includes existing federal entities responsible for laboratory animal welfare. NIH's Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) administers and monitors compliance with the Public Health Service (PHS) Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals for all entities conducting animal research supported by HHS funding, including grantees, contractors, and HHS's own intramural research programs. OLAW also provides guidance and educational resources to help institutions meet their regulatory obligations. 

FASEB submitted questions to congressional offices ahead of hearings featuring testimony by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. FASEB's questions focused on the potential for overlap in the oversight responsibilities of OARP and OLAW, asking what specific gap in oversight OARP would fill beyond the existing roles of OLAW and where researchers and institutions would turn for authoritative compliance guidance if OARP is established.

FASEB will continue to monitor this proposal as the FY 2027 appropriations process moves forward through Congress.