Trump reportedly to form health funding board that could veto ‘woke’ initiatives

President Donald Trump is poised to issue an executive order that would create a new board to oversee and approve all National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant funding, a move aimed at curbing what senior officials describe as “woke” research. The proposal, discussed in a Friday meeting, would place the board—comprising White House Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought and NIH director Jay Bhattacharya—at the helm of grant decisions, requiring unanimous consent to award funds. This structure would allow the board to veto biomedical projects that do not align with the administration’s political priorities, fundamentally altering the NIH’s traditional merit‑based review process.

The initiative emerges amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to reshape federal spending and suppress research topics it deems contrary to its agenda. Since Trump’s second term began, billions of dollars in health‑related grants have been cut or frozen, and studies containing keywords such as “equity,” “racist,” “gender,” and “climate change” have been flagged for reduced funding. The NIH, the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research, is also facing a class‑action lawsuit alleging that the administration’s actions violate the First Amendment by using funding power to silence disfavored viewpoints within the scientific community.

The proposed board would represent a significant shift in how federal research money is allocated, potentially affecting thousands of scientists and the direction of public health research nationwide. While the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House have not responded to comment requests, NIH director Jay Bhattacharya has publicly defended the agency’s grant‑making process and resisted broader cuts. The outcome of the executive order could set a precedent for political oversight of scientific inquiry, intensifying legal challenges and sparking debate over the balance between governmental authority and academic freedom.

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