Trump proposes research agency grant award overhaul

 The Trump administration is proposing to overhaul how research agencies award grants.

Here’s what to know.

1. The Office of Management and Budget’s May 29 proposal would establish a standard framework for distributing research grants across the entire government.

2. Under the framework, peer reviews by program officers or scientists would be treated as advisory, and political appointees would do a “pre-issuance review” to ensure grants advance the president’s policy priorities. It prohibits the use of federal money to support publications costs and could restrict grantmaking and support for scientific collaboration.

3. The framework also includes criteria for not funding or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion policies, “theories or ideologies that deny the biological reality of sex or the sex binary in humans,” or gender transition procedures for people under age 19.

4. The proposal allows grants to be terminated if the work “no longer effectuates program goals, federal agency priorities or the national interest,” and “set governmentwide requirements for grants administration and agencies must follow the OMB requirements in their award programs.” 

5. The OMB said the new framework aims to ensure tax dollars are funding activities consistent with law and policy, and that recipients are held accountable. 
6. Public comments on the framework are accepted through July 13. However, the framework is already receiving criticism from scientific organizations. Stand Up for Science called it an “unprecedented power grab by [OMB Director] Russell Vought,” and warned the framework would upend the research agency’s ability to dictate spending.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/trump-proposes-grant-award-overhaul-6-notes/