A new executive order from Donald Trump is expected to create a board responsible for approving National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding. This move is reportedly an attempt by the Trump administration to control topics that do not align with the president’s agenda.
The executive order was discussed in a meeting on Friday, where senior administration officials reportedly accused the NIH of funding “woke” initiatives that went against Trump’s political priorities. Russell Vought, director of the White House’s office of management and budget (OMB), and other officials proposed an external committee that could veto biomedical research awards not aligning with Trump’s goals.
According to reports, the board would include Vought and NIH director Jay Bhattacharya, and would require unanimous decisions on grant awards. This approach reportedly diverges from the agency’s traditional process of evaluating proposals based on scientific merit.
The reported development comes as the NIH faces a class-action lawsuit from researchers. The lawsuit alleges the Trump administration is hindering and terminating scientific grants to censor opposing viewpoints, violating the First Amendment.