White House reportedly drafts NIH grant veto power for OMB chief

The Trump administration is drafting an executive order that would give Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought veto power over every individual National Institutes of Health grant, Ars Technica reported, citing reporting by The Washington Post, The New York Times and Politico. The change would place a political appointee directly in the approval path for funding from the NIH's $47 billion budget. NIH grants support university research ranging from basic biology to clinical trials. The order remains a draft; earlier administration efforts to terminate grants or impose politically driven funding rules were blocked by a court or Congress.