Proposed new US funding rules: We can cancel any grant at any time

This is the end Proposed new US funding rules: We can cancel any grant at any time Peer review now optional, political staff would screen grants for forbidden topics. John Timmer – May 29, 2026 6:58 pm | 45 Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), during a television interview at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday, July 7, 2025. Credit: Getty | Al Drago Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), during a television interview at the White House in Washington, DC, on Monday, July 7, 2025. Credit: Getty | Al Drago Text settings Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only    Learn more Minimize to nav Last August, the Trump administration issued an executive order intended to fundamentally alter how grant funding is handled by the US government. Under the system that had made the US a scientific superpower, peer reviewers rated the scientific quality and feasibility of grant applications, and subject-matter experts within the funding agencies used these ratings to determine which grants got funded. Under the proposed rules, political appointees would have the final say, and they were specifically instructed not to “routinely defer” to peer reviewers. In the interim, the administration has lost many court cases because it turns out that issuing executive orders doesn’t circumvent legal requirements , and the orders can be vacated if they lack strong justification. To avoid that same fate, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has decided to merge the executive order with other administration priorities and send it through the formal federal rulemaking process. The result is a horror show for US science research. Not only is peer review made a secondary consideration, but the new rules would allow any federal agency to cancel any grant at any time based on the vague assertion that it isn’t in the “national interest.” The document would