
Trump reportedly to form health funding board that could veto âÂÂwokeâ initiatives
PresidentâÂÂs latest order expected to bring NIH funding under control of Trump administration to align with agenda
Donald TrumpâÂÂs latest executive order is expected to establish a board responsible for approving National Institutes of Health grant funding, marking another attempt by the Trump administration to censor topics that do not align with the presidentâÂÂs agenda.
The executive order, reported by outlets including the Washington Post and Politico, was discussed in a meeting on Friday where senior administration officials accused the NIH of funding âÂÂwokeâ initiatives that went against TrumpâÂÂs political priorities.
Russell Vought, the director of the White HouseâÂÂs office of management and budget (OMB), and other administration officials proposed an executive order that would create an external committee that could veto awards in biomedical research that do not align with TrumpâÂÂs goals, according to several people who spoke to the Washington Post.
The board would include Vought and the NIH director, Jay Bhattacharya, according to Politico, and it would be required to reach unanimous decisions on grant awards. The OMB is the White House agency in charge of implementing the presidentâÂÂs policies in the executive branch.
Establishing an external commission to award grants based on the presidentâÂÂs ideological agenda breaks with the agencyâÂÂs traditional process of evaluating proposals on scientific merit. Bhattacharya has resisted cuts to federal research spending and defended the NIHâÂÂs grant-making process on Friday, while Vought expressed a desire to reshape federal spending.
The reported â move comes as the NIH, the worldâÂÂs largest public funder of biomedical research, faces a class-action lawsuit by researchers arguing that the Trump administration is hindering and terminating scientific grants to censor opposing views to the presidentâÂÂs ideological agenda. Researchers are accusing the administration of violating the first amendment.
âÂÂWhat the First Amendment does not allow is the governmentâÂÂs use of its funding power to target or silence the expression of disfavored viewpoints within the biomedical research community,â reads the lawsuit.
Since Trump took office for his second term, billions of dollars in federal grants related to health, nutrition, the environment and disaster relief have been cut or frozen. Research with keywords including âÂÂequityâÂÂ, âÂÂracistâÂÂ, âÂÂgenderâÂÂ, âÂÂclimate changeâ and others has been flagged by the administration to hinder funding for scientific research.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
