Latest White House move to politicise science funding provokes outrage among research leaders

The US research community has mobilised forcefully against a new White House proposal that would give political appointees power over who gets federal research grants. The proposal asserts that ‘peer review remains advisory and does not replace agency discretion’. Among those speaking out are the leaders of major science organisations and at least one prominent chemistry Nobel laureate.

The Trump administration’s 29 May proposal makes ‘major changes in how our government manages research funding’, said the US National Academy of Sciences’ president Marcia McNutt at her annual State of Science Address on 2 June. ‘The proposal is that politicians will decide what research to fund, what meetings scientists are allowed to attend, and whether and where the results can be published,’ she warned. ‘Now, what could possibly go wrong with that?’ McNutt quipped.