Trump signs executive order creating NIH division and task force for women's health research

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on October 19, 2026, establishing a dedicated Women's Health Division within the NIH and a White House task force co-chaired by Susie Wiles and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Spearheaded by First Lady Melania Trump, the initiative aims to accelerate research on conditions such as endometriosis and maternal health. However, critics highlight tensions between the order and broader administration actions, including a 35% NIH budget cut and reductions in health research funding.

NIH Women's Health Division

• ▪The new Women's Health Division created by Trump's October 19 executive order at the NIH is required to be established within 90 days and will not replace the existing NIH Office of Research on Women's Health
• ▪Trump's October 19 executive order targets health concerns including maternal health, mental health, endometriosis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and stroke
• ▪Trump's October 19 executive order creating the NIH Women's Health Division does not specify any funding targets or dollar amounts, though administrative task force costs must be funded by HHS
• ▪President Donald Trump signed an executive order on October 19, 2026, establishing a Women's Health Division at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Melania Trump Advocacy Role

• ▪Melania Trump's office outlined five pillars for innovation in women's health, including funding targeted research for cures and accelerating timelines for therapeutics to reach patients
• ▪First Lady Melania Trump initiated and organized working sessions with doctors, East Wing policy makers, and health officials to shape Trump's October 19 executive order on women's health
• ▪During an October 19, 2026 Rose Garden event, Melania Trump advocated using artificial intelligence and advanced biotechnology to accelerate women's health discoveries and modernize care

White House Task Force

• ▪White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who co-chairs the White House Women's Health Task Force, recently announced that she is cancer-free following breast cancer treatment
• ▪Trump's October 19 executive order establishes a White House Women's Health Task Force co-chaired by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trump Administration Health Cuts

• ▪The Trump administration, in office since January 2025, has mandated a 35 percent spending cut at the NIH amounting to $2.6 billion and reduced the NIH's workforce to its lowest level in decades
• ▪The Trump administration, in office since January 2025, sought to cut NIH grants for diversity-related research, allow political appointees to control health-research funding, and alter Title X family planning funding rules
• ▪In April 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services abruptly moved to terminate regional contracts for the Women's Health Initiative, the nation's largest longitudinal study on older women's health