White House Drops Executive Order That Would Have Given OMB Veto Power Over NIH Grants

White House Drops Executive Order That Would Have Given OMB Veto Power Over NIH Grants

A plan to hand the White House's budget office political veto power over National Institutes of Health grantmaking surfaced, drew immediate bipartisan congressional pushback, and collapsed — all within one week (September 18–23, 2026).

The plan. As reported by The Washington Post, The New York Times and Politico (Sept 18–20), OMB Director Russell Vought pushed an executive order — drafted by OMB — that would create an external committee with authority to review and potentially veto NIH grants that don't align with the administration's priorities, in a clash with NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya. Vought accused the agency of funding "woke" initiatives. The NIH's $48–50 billion biomedical research portfolio would have been subject to political review. The Hill (Sept 21): the order would move NIH's "grant approval process... away from the agency and giving political appointees more control¹."

The pushback. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine), Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro all warned against it. Collins wrote to Bhattacharya and Vought on Sept 22: "I urge you not to move forward with this proposal, which would undermine the intent of the CR provision and more important, the Federal government's objective of funding biomedical research projects based on scientific merit and value rather than political ideology," adding, "If the administration seeks additional reforms of NIH, I urge you to submit a legislative proposal to Congress rather than pursue an executive order."

The collapse. Roll Call, Sept 23: "The White House is scrapping plans for an executive order that would give the Trump administration more control over grantmaking at the National Institutes of Health², a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday." Murray's response: "It shouldn't take public outcry to prevent President Trump and [OMB director] Russ Vought from laying waste to the NIH and defunding lifesaving research because they think it's 'woke' or want to extort a university." The Cancer Letter's Sept 25 issue distilled it: "The White House last week considered, but ultimately abandoned, a plan to create a panel that would review NIH grants in an effort to weed out projects the administration regards as 'woke.'"

Why it matters — and what's still live. The EO is dead, but the underlying mechanism isn't: the idea grew out of the administration's May 2026 "Uniform Guidance" proposed rule, which would require political appointees to review discretionary grants for alignment with presidential priorities³ and expand agencies' ability to terminate grants "for convenience." The continuing resolution funding the government through mid-December contains a provision delaying that rule's implementation — so the fight lands back on Congress's desk during the December funding deadline. This sits alongside the broader pattern of political restructuring of US science and health agencies tracked in Kennedy Stacks the US Preventive Services Task Force With Eight New Members After a Year of Cancelled Meetings.