On Thursday, the Trump government gave an executive order that claimed political control over subsidy financing, including all federally supported research. The order requires that every announcement of financing options is assessed by the head of the agency or someone who designates them, which means that a political appointed has the ultimate to say about which areas of science the American funds. Individual subsidies also require approval of a political appointed and “, where applicable, must demonstrably promote the policy priorities of the president.”
The order also instructs agencies to formalize the possibility of canceling earlier granted subsidies at any time if they are considered “no longer promoting bureaupriorities”. Until there is a system to enforce the new rules, it is forbidden to start new financing programs.
In short, the new rules would mean that all federal science investigation should be approved by a political appointment that may not have an expertise in the relevant areas, and the research can be canceled at any time if the political wind changes. It would be the end of a system that has made our scientific leadership possible for about 70 years.
We have control
The text of the Executive Order Recycles previous accusations used by the administration to justify attacks on American scientific efforts: will pay too much money for the facilities and administrative staff that universities offer researchers; Subsidies have discussed efforts to diversify the scientific community; Some studies cannot be replicated; And there have been cases of scientific fraud. However, the “solution” for these problems (some of which are real) is a greater control over the subsidy process by non-expert staff appointed by the president.
In general, the executive order inserts a low political control over both the announcement of new financing options and the approval of individual subsidies. It orders the head of each agency that spends itself – someone who has been appointed by the president – to make himself – to make themselves financing decisions, or to appoint another senior appointed to do this on their behalf. That person will then carry out the audit on whether any financing announcements or subsidies can make progress. Decisions also require “continuation of existing coordination with OMB [Office of Management and Budget]. “The Head of Omb, Russell Vought, has been seriously involved in trying to reduce science financing, including a recent attempt to block all subsidies from the National Institutes of Health.
