GoKawiilOMB Director Vought to gain veto power over individual NIH grants
According to reports from The Washington Post, New York Times and Politico, the White House is drafting an executive order that would let OMB Director Russell Vought approve or reject every grant awarded by the NIH. The move follows a meeting in which NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya reportedly failed to stop the effort, marking the latest attempt by Vought to steer the agency's funding decisions after earlier attempts to cut its budget and impose political criteria on grants were blocked by Congress and the courts.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
NIH's $47 billion budget exceeds that of the next ten research funders combined, meaning centralized political control over individual grants could reshape which scientific projects—from basic research to clinical trials—get funded across the country. Giving one political appointee veto power over thousands of grants would represent an unprecedented shift away from peer-reviewed scientific judgment toward direct executive control of biomedical research.
- An executive order reportedly being drafted would give OMB Director Vought veto authority over every NIH grant.
- NIH Director Bhattacharya reportedly lost a White House fight to prevent this centralization of control.
- Previous Vought-backed efforts to cut NIH's budget and impose political funding criteria were already blocked by Congress and courts.
Source: arstechnica.com, 2026-09-21
Published there as: “Russel Vought will reportedly be given veto power over all NIH grants”
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