Ars Technica reports that the administration is planning to give Russel Vought, a political appointee, veto power over all grants issued by the National Institutes of Health. The arrangement would reportedly apply to every grant decision made by the agency, a significant expansion of political oversight over scientific funding.
The move is said to be pending over the objections of the NIH director, who would be bypassed or overruled in the grant approval process. The report does not indicate that the NIH director supports the change, only that it is being planned despite opposition.
If implemented, the policy would concentrate final authority over the agency's grant portfolio in the hands of a political official rather than career scientists. The source notes the plan is pending, meaning it has not yet taken effect.