DeLauro Statement on White House Efforts to Further Politicize Health Funding, Jeopardize Critical Biomedical Research

WASHINGTON – House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) issued a statement following reports over the weekend that the White House is drafting a new executive order to exert further political control over who receives research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH): 

“This is an extraordinarily dangerous proposal. The White House is playing politics with critical research into devastating illnesses like cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease. Funding for life-saving biomedical research should never – ever – be subject to political litmus tests. This is another attempt by this administration to take control over federal funding, so they can use it to punish their perceived enemies and reward their friends. It seriously jeopardizes our ability to develop lifesaving cures and treatments to deadly conditions that impact millions of Americans. It must not be allowed to move forward.

“This is the clearest indication yet that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is an out-of-control agency that not only needs additional oversight but should also have its authorities removed or constrained. Last month on a bipartisan basis, Congress sent a clear message that OMB cannot continue on its current path of subjecting grant funding to political tests. I am confident both Democrats and Republicans will continue opposing efforts to politicize biomedical research and the grant making process across the government. As we move forward with full-year funding negotiations, reasserting Congress’s authority over federal spending by beating back the administration’s efforts to hijack grant funding will be of central importance.”

The effort comes as the White House budget office has proposed a new federal rule that would impose more political control over nearly all federal grant funding – not just that awarded by the NIH – and as the Trump administration admitted in court that they blocked funding for certain energy projects based on the political makeup of the states where those projects were located.

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