AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Today is the final day for the public to weigh in on a Trump administration rule change, one that would give political appointees unprecedented authority over federal grant funding. A wide range of experts from research groups to hospitals to nonprofit organizations argue that this change would not be in the best interest of Americans. NPR's Katia Riddle has been reporting on this story and joins us now. Hi, Katia.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so what exactly is the Trump administration proposing here?
RIDDLE: So this proposal would rewrite the regulations governing how federal research grants are awarded across much of the government. Right now, a lot of the system relies on peer review. That's when independent experts from different fields come together and decide who should get money to fund what kind of research. This process is used by agencies like NASA, Department of Defense, National Science Foundation. But the new change would require senior political officials to also review many grant decisions and would allow them to override recommendations from scientific peer review.
CHANG: Wow, interesting. OK, what's been the reaction so far to this rule change?
RIDDLE: Yeah, we've seen reactions from biotech leaders, public health officials, state lawmakers, you know, all warning that this change could compromise integrity in federal funding systems. Many interest groups say that science stands to absorb a lot of the impact of this change. One such group is the Association of American Medical Colleges. Heather Pierce is senior director of science policy there. She argues that if this rule goes into effect, it could jeopardize transparent decision-making when it comes to funding science in the U.S.
HEATHER PIERCE: This proposed rule would essentially undermine that process by adding a layer of political review that could undo scientific recommendations for reasons that have nothing to do with science.
CHANG: OK, Katia, give me some examples here. Like, what specifically are people afraid could happen with this rule change?
RIDDLE: So federal grants touch just an enormous range of programs from cutting-edge AI research to affordable housing initiatives, run by states and cities. All these programs could be affected. Again, Heather Pierce from the Association of American Medical Colleges points out that this system has been reliable for decades in advancing research on problems like cancer or heart disease, Alzheimer's. And her concern is that the change would give politicians influence to make punitive or capricious stops to this important work.
PIERCE: When research turns off and on and starts and stops, it doesn't just put research and progress back by days or weeks. It could put things back by years or decades.
CHANG: And what does the Trump administration say about these concerns?
RIDDLE: So the change is being proposed by the White House's Office of Management and Budget, and they've said that it's an effort to align federal grants with the administration's priorities. In an email about this story, the OMB sent a statement, and they said, the system of peer review would not be replaced. And they wrote, quote, "this rule is fundamentally about accountability to the American people and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely," unquote.
CHANG: All right. Well, what happens now in the process?
RIDDLE: So tonight marks the end of a 45-day period of open public comment necessary to moving this change forward. The administration would like to implement this rule as soon as October. That said, as with many of the unconventional policies of this administration, we're likely to see court challenges. So it's unclear when exactly this authority would be handed over to these political appointees.
CHANG: That is NPR's Katia Riddle. Thank you so much, Katia.
RIDDLE: You're welcome.
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