The Pentagon has signed an interagency agreement that could allow it to access billions of dollars allocated to the National Institutes of Health for biomedical research, according to House Appropriations Committee ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro and Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Patty Murray. The potential funding would come from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which supports research into HIV, influenza, malaria, tuberculosis and Ebola. The lawmakers said Congress was not notified in advance and that NIH disclosed the Defense Department’s efforts only after House Appropriations Committee Democrats pressed for information. DeLauro called for the agreement to be terminated, while Murray said Pentagon priorities should proceed through the annual appropriations process. The amount sought and its intended use remain unclear, and DeLauro did not say NIH had signed the agreement. The Department of Health and Human Services said NIH and the Pentagon had explored collaboration on therapeutics, diagnostics and protective equipment for infectious diseases and other health risks, including responses to public-health emergencies such as the recent Ebola outbreak. The dispute comes as the Pentagon faces war-related funding pressure: the White House sought $87.6 billion in supplemental funding in June, including $67.1 billion for the Defense Department and $21 billion to replenish munitions, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators in July that the conflict had cost an estimated $37.5 billion. An earlier funding figure in the topic record was $95 billion; the later source gives the revised request as $87.6 billion. Patient advocates have also urged Congress to investigate and ensure NIH research money is used as appropriated.