Scientists, higher ed alarmed by federal 'power grab' over research funding

Scientists and universities are sounding an urgent alarm over the Trump administration’s new efforts to control research in the U.S.

The administration announced in late May dramatic changes in how the government plans to distribute billions of dollars in federal research money every year.

Among the 400 pages of new regulations proposed by the Office of Management and Budget: political appointees – who may have no science background – will now have final say on all research proposals. Peer review by experts in the field, which has long guided the research process, will now be considered advisory.

In addition, federal grants will be judged in part by whether they align with the president’s priorities. International research partnerships will be severely limited. Travel to conferences to present scientific work will be curtailed. It will be much harder to distribute research to the public. Scientists will be judged based on whether they are considered a “risk” in the government’s view - including their affiliations with nonprofits or organizations that the administration considers “subversive.”

In the announcement, the administration wrote that the new rules will improve “transparency, accountability, and oversight for Federal awards across the Federal Government. This includes ensuring that American tax dollars are not wasted or misused.”

But leaders in science and academics say the move is a blatant attempt to dictate research on political grounds, following previous executive orders that were reversed in the courts.

“This is a power grab,” said Dr. Nancy Krieger, a public health professor at Harvard University who helped sue the Trump administration after her federal study on health equity was canceled. “This will stifle American science and ingenuity. It will stifle American scholarship. It will affect Americans’ health. It will affect the well-being of communities. It is a recipe for disaster.”

Scientific and academic groups have been holding emergency meetings to figure out how to respond to the proposed regulations.

The public comment period ends on July 13. Barbara Snyder, president of the Association of American Universities, said that is too short.

“The changes in the guidance have the potential to reshape the framework within which universities, federal agencies, and other stakeholders conduct and support America’s scientific research,” Snyder wrote in a letter to the administration, requesting a 90-day comment period.

Krieger, of Harvard, said the new rules, which could go into effect this fall, could set back research in the U.S. by decades. She said they will affect federal research and funding in a wide variety of fields, beyond traditional science.

“This affects transportation. It affects education. It affects Medicaid. It affects programs that deal with food insecurity,” she said. “This is a tactic to basically say that the will of the administration is the only thing that should determine who and what gets federal funding.”

Krieger urged people to write to the government during the public comment period and contact their members of Congress.

“The public record will be crucial if there is going to be any litigation going forward,” Krieger said, “and members of Congress need to know that their constituents are also concerned.”