Proposed new US funding rules: We can cancel any grant at any time
Summary
The Trump administration is proposing new rules to change how the US government funds scientific research grants. These rules would give political appointees more power to decide which grants to approve or cancel, reduce the role of expert peer review, and allow agencies to cancel grants anytime if they claim it is not in the “national interest.”Key Facts
- The current system relies on expert peer reviewers to rate scientific grant applications, which influences funding decisions.
- The proposed rules would let political appointees have the final say in funding decisions, ignoring peer review recommendations.
- Any federal agency could cancel grants at any time for vaguely defined reasons like not serving the “national interest.”
- The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is leading these changes and moving them through the formal federal rulemaking process.
- The rules would also limit funding for certain culture-related topics, restrict international collaboration, and block spending on activities such as publishing papers and attending conferences.
- Previously, grant rules varied by agency; the new rules aim to create a uniform, government-wide policy.
- The changes respond to legal challenges that blocked earlier attempts to change grant funding through executive orders.
- The new policy states that federal funding must not discriminate based on viewpoint, but also criticizes grants that promote certain political agendas.
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