White House considers executive order to politicize NIH grant approvals

Senior officials met in the Oval Office on Friday to discuss an executive order that would establish an external panel with authority to reject NIH grant applications.

The meeting, reported by The Washington Post, was led by Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, who argued that the NIH continues to fund projects he described as "woke" and suggested screening grants for diversity, equity and inclusion language.

The administration has already taken steps such as banning researchers from certain countries from accessing NIH databases and reinstating a ban on the use of human fetal tissue from abortions. These actions have disrupted hundreds of clinical trials and disproportionately affected women and early‑career scientists, potentially slowing the development of new medicines.