Collins Condemns Trump’s Grant-funding Move
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Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the powerful Appropriations Committee, on Monday pushed back on President Donald Trump’s directive to give political appointees more control over research grants, saying his order undermines Congress.
The White House budget office “should not be involved in agency decisions on the awards of grants,” Collins said in a statement.
The rebuke came in response to reports that on Friday, Trump directed his budget director, Russ Vought, to draft an executive order to establish a board that would decide which grants the National Institutes of Health should fund, in an attempt to cut Harvard University’s funding — a major priority for the president. Trump also asked NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya to cut Harvard’s funding on Friday, but Bhattacharya refused.
“Any attempt to politicize grantmaking at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), or any other agency, by another means — whether an Executive Order or guidance — is contrary to congressional intent,” Collins added.
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What’s next: The stopgap funding bill delayed implementation of the OMB rule until December, offering a reprieve for scientists. But the new proposed board is bringing the fight back to the forefront for lawmakers and research groups.
“Adding more bureaucrats would slow medical progress to a grinding halt,” said Research!America President and CEO Russ Paulsen in a news release. “American patients and their families waiting for the next lifesaving treatment or medical breakthrough should not have to wait even longer.”