Russel Vought will reportedly be given veto power over all NIH grants
Summary
The White House plans to give Russell Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), veto power over all National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants. This means Vought can block grant funding unless he and NIH director Jay Bhattacharya both agree to approve it.Key Facts
- Russell Vought wants political control over NIH research grant decisions.
- The NIH is the largest funder of biomedical research with a $47 billion budget.
- Earlier attempts to cut NIH funding or block grants on topics like pandemic preparedness were rejected by Congress and courts.
- Vought’s plan would give him veto power over every individual NIH grant through a joint committee with NIH’s director.
- Jay Bhattacharya objected but appears to have lost the dispute.
- The committee must unanimously agree to fund any grant, giving Vought effective veto power.
- This new system could be difficult to manage since the NIH funds over 64,000 grants each year.
- The dispute partly stems from political tensions with universities like Harvard, which Trump targeted over funding and legal battles.
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