United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order creating a dedicated women’s health division within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The order also establishes a White House task force focused on the same subject.
The signing took place in Washington on Monday. First Lady Melania Trump described the initiative as setting “a new standard for women’s health in America” and said it marked a turning point for women in the country.
Division must be set up within 90 days
According to the order, the new division must be established within 90 days. The project was led by the first lady, and its stated aims include speeding up scientific discoveries, widening clinical access to women’s health services and improving care at every stage of a woman’s life.
The White House said the division will not replace the NIH’s existing Office of Research on Women’s Health. Instead, it will have a wider remit that goes beyond research.
Melania Trump pointed to “super intelligence, advanced biotechnology and groundbreaking therapies” as tools that could offer a “unique chance to reinvent women’s healthcare”. Her office has identified five pillars for innovation. One focuses on funding targeted research into diseases that affect women, such as endometriosis. Another seeks a faster route for promising treatments to reach female patients.
Task force leadership and funding gaps
The task force will be co-chaired by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who has recently been declared cancer-free, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. The order requires HHS to cover the task force’s administrative costs, but it does not set any specific funding targets or dollar amounts.
Experts have noted that Melania Trump has kept a lower profile during her husband’s second term than in his first. She has appeared in public less often, although she has promoted foster care improvements and the role of technology, including artificial intelligence, in education. During Trump’s first term, she launched the “Be Best” campaign, which focused on child well-being, safe social media and tackling opioid abuse.
Critics question impact of federal job cuts
Critics have questioned how effective the executive order is likely to be, given the cuts to the federal workforce made since Trump’s second inauguration. Thousands of employees have been laid off at the NIH alone. One report said the agency’s workforce is at its lowest level in decades.
The NIH has also been told to cut its spending by 35 percent across all divisions, a reduction of $2.6bn. The order comes after the HHS drew widespread condemnation and a multi-state lawsuit in April 2025, when it moved to end regional contracts for the Women’s Health Initiative. At the time, that study was the nation’s largest longitudinal study of older women’s health. Critics warned the move would jeopardise life-saving research into cardiovascular disease, cancer and osteoporotic fractures in senior women.
