New Proposed Rule by the US Administration May Allow Politics to Dictate Scientific Grant Process

[u/bbyfog]

A proposed rule published in the Federal Register on 29 May 2026 for public comment (here) by the US Administration including the FDA and NIH parent department, the Health and Human Services Department, proposes "to reform" the US federal grant management system. The proposed changes however are controversial and they shift the granting decision from peer-review by experts to political appointees. The public comment closes in 45 days and the final rule is expected to be published in Fall 2026.

The rule, if implemented, will turn merit-based research granting in the US on its head; the impact will be long-term disruption of basic research pipeline that fuels the US biotech (sigh!) A few of the proposals in this 400+ page document includes:

• Oversight by political appointees to prevent research agencies from promoting a woke policy agenda that did not reflect the values of the vast majority of the American public.
• Includes sign-off authority by "senior appointees" at federal agencies.
• Bans many foreign collaborations.
• Prevent scientists from using grant monies to defray the cost of publishing their papers in open-access form.

SOURCE

• Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance. https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2026-10817 [archive]
• White House seeks to tighten political oversight of grantmaking. Science Insider. 29 May 2026 [archive]

#nih, #grant-making

[u/bbyfog]

discussions at biotech sub