OMB’s rule would destroy scientific research as we know it by allowing political appointees control over grant funding
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Kelly Morrison (MN-03) joined more than 150 Members of Congress in a public comment letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) urging the agency to reject the Trump Administration’s proposed rule to politicize all federal grant funding.
The Trump Administration’s new rule would shift power to political appointees to choose which studies and trials are awarded federal grant funding — instead of the apolitical peer review process that has been in place for decades and allowed for breakthroughs in science and medicine like cancer treatment, Alzheimer’s research, HIV treatment and prevention, and countless others. The rule also expands the power to cancel grant funding at any time — which means life-saving research studies could be cancelled on a whim and without explanation. These are unprecedented moves that would change the federal research and grant funding structure that has made the United States a leader in scientific discovery for generations.
Minnesota is a research powerhouse — and the University of Minnesota, one of the top public research institutions in the country, receives over half of its $1.4 billion in research funding from the federal government and would be directly impacted by this new rule. Medical institutions and research centers like Mayo Clinic and Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute could also be impacted.
Read full text of the letter here.
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