Between 2021 and 2026 FDA user fee revenue rose 39 percent while its appropriations rose 7 percent
Congress's research service tracks the FDA budget year by year. Fees were 45.7 percent of the total in FY2021, 51.5 percent in FY2026 and 53.8 percent in the FY2027 request. Human drugs is the largest program at 35 percent.
We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: CRS figures for FY2027 are the President's request, not an enacted budget. Percent shares are ours, computed from the report's own totals. The report describes the budget; it takes no position on whether the fee share is appropriate, and none is taken here.
Significant findings
The Congressional Research Service's fact sheet on the FDA budget, updated June 10, 2026, gives the enacted total program level, budget authority and user fees for each year. FY2021: 6.050 billion dollars, 3.285 appropriated, 2.766 fees (45.7 percent). FY2022: 6.248, 3.367, 2.881 (46.1 percent). FY2023: 6.722, 3.593, 3.129 (46.5 percent). FY2024: 6.876, 3.577, 3.298 (47.9 percent). FY2025: 7.029, 3.577, 3.451 (49.1 percent). FY2026: 7.069, 3.427, 3.641 (51.5 percent). FY2027 request: 7.158, 3.308, 3.850 (53.8 percent).
The report's own summary: "Between FY2021 and FY2026, FDA's enacted annual total program level increased from $6.050 billion to $7.069 billion", with user fee revenue up by more than 39 percent and congressional appropriations up 7 percent. Human drugs is the largest program at 35 percent of FY2026 spending, followed by human foods at 17 percent and devices at 13 percent.
The fee programs and their FY2027 amounts, as the report lists them: prescription drugs (PDUFA, 1992) 1.640 billion; tobacco products (2009, indefinite authorization) 712 million; generic drugs (GDUFA, 2012) 704 million; medical devices (MDUFA, 2002) 560 million; biosimilars (BsUFA, 2012) 62 million; over-the-counter monograph drugs (OMUFA, 2020) 40 million; animal drugs (ADUFA, 2003) 36 million; animal generic drugs (AGDUFA, 2008) 29 million; other programs 67 million. Total authorized fees 3.850 billion. The FY2027 request also proposes 71 million in foreign food facility registration fees that are not yet authorized.
Worth asking
The trend is one direction for as long as the table runs: each year a larger share of the regulator's budget comes from the regulated, and a smaller share from taxes. The FY2027 request asks for less appropriated money than FY2026 and more fee money. Whether that is efficiency or dependence is a judgement the report does not make and this row does not make either; the numbers are what they are.
Source
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Budget: Fact Sheet (R44576) — Congressional Research Service (2026)
Read the source: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R44576
How this was scored
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- Preregistered
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- Conflicts disclosed
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- Independent of proponent
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- Retracted
- No
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Published September 21, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "not yet assessed". We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. One caveat travels with that badge: CRS figures for FY2027 are the President's request, not an enacted budget. Percent shares are ours, computed from the report's own totals. The report describes the budget; it takes no position on whether the fee share is appropriate, and none is taken here. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Budget: Fact Sheet (R44576) — Congressional Research Service (2026). The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.