CARGO Act of 2025
The Cease Animal Research Grants Overseas Act of 2025 (CARGO Act) would amend the Public Health Service Act to bar the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from awarding any support for activities or programs that use live animals in research unless the work is conducted inside the United States. In other words, NIH funding could not be used for overseas live-animal research, even if the project involves U.S. funding, unless the research occurs domestically. The bill cites past NIH funding to foreign organizations, a lack of foreign facility oversight, and concerns about animal welfare as justification. The definition of “United States” for the purposes of this prohibition would include each state and every territory or possession. Introduced in the Senate on May 19, 2025, by Senators Scott (FL) and Booker, the bill sets out a nationwide funding restriction that would apply to NIH grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and technical assistance related to live-animal research.
Key Points
- 1Prohibition on NIH funding for live-animal research unless conducted in the United States.
- 2Applies to all NIH support mechanisms: grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and technical assistance.
- 3Defines “United States” to include all states plus territories and possessions (extending eligibility to include places like Puerto Rico, Guam, etc.).
- 4Based on findings about past NIH foreign funding of animal research and concerns about oversight and animal welfare abroad.
- 5Introduces no explicit exemptions or waivers in the text; the prohibition would apply to future awards unless research is conducted domestically.