Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanAt indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates Peterson faces fight of his career in deep-red Minnesota district MORE said Sunday he expects to see some changes made on Capitol Hill to President Trump's federal budget proposal, which called for cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

During an interview on "Fox News Sunday," the Wisconsin Republican said NIH is "something that's particularly popular in Congress."

"We just passed the Cures Act, just this last December, to increase spending in the NIH, because we really think we're kind of getting close to some breakthrough discoveries on cancer and other diseases," Ryan said.

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"So that's something that I think in Congress you'll see probably some changes."

Ryan said Trump's spending blueprint is just the beginning of a "very long, multi-stage progress of budgeting."

The president's proposed federal budget would cut nearly $6 billion from the NIH despite his promises on the campaign trail that a Trump administration would work to cure diseases.

The Trump plan, which would reduce the NIH budget by $5.8 billion, proposes a "major reorganization" of the institutes and centers at NIH to "help focus resources on the highest priority research and training activities."

Ryan said Sunday he's encouraged that the president's budget proposes an increase in defense spending, but noted it is early in the budget process.