Key senators reject White House proposal on NIH grants.

President Trump directed Russ Vought to draft an executive order establishing a board with veto power over NIH grant awards. The order would shift authority over $48 billion in research funding from career scientists to political appointees.

• $48 billion in congressionally-appropriated NIH funds would fall under the board's oversight.
• The proposed board would require unanimous decisions and include Vought and Bhattacharya.
• Targeting Harvard's federal funding was cited as a priority driving the proposal.
• Congress already barred a similar earlier plan in a stopgap funding bill passed this summer.

Why it matters: The move would transfer grant decisions from scientific reviewers to White House officials, a shift senators in both parties say defies Congress.

• Sen. Patty Murray warned a single political appointee could cancel a cancer study or Alzheimer's trial with no scientific justification.
• Courts have already blocked prior administration attempts to cut NIH grants on political grounds.

How 11 sources split on this story

Where they split: The dispute is whether NIH grant decisions are an executive prerogative or a congressionally-protected scientific process that political appointees cannot override.

What’s next: Collins said the administration would defy Congress by moving forward with the order.

• Whether Collins pursues permanent legislation or a temporary block is unresolved.
• Will Bhattacharya, who reportedly resisted Vought's demands at the Friday meeting, remain as NIH director if the executive order is signed?
• Would a court block the executive order as it did earlier NIH funding cuts and the Harvard freeze?
• Will Congress act before or after the midterms to permanently bar political review of NIH grants?