"The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has so far not received approval to spend any of the research funding allocated in a budget bill signed into law on 3 February. The US National Science Foundation (NSF) was authorized to spend its funding just last week. And NASA has had its full funding authorized for release, but with an unusual restriction that limits spending on ten specific programmes."
"OMB director Russell Vought has said in the past that the office's role in doling out government funding can be an "indispensable statutory tool" to ensure that agencies are not wasting public funds and are adhering to White House priorities. Vought has also said that the OMB can provide less funding than what Congress has appropriated."
""This is a drastic departure from historical practice," Rosa DeLauro, the ranking member of a US House of Representatives committee that drafts government spending bills, told Nature. DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, and Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington who is the ranking member of a similar committee in the US Senate, demanded that the OMB release funds, as is required by law."
Following Congress's rejection of Trump administration budget cuts for 2026, research funding authorization remains stalled. The NIH has received no approval to spend allocated research funds from the February 3 budget bill, while the NSF gained authorization only recently. NASA received full funding authorization but with restrictions on ten specific programs the administration previously attempted to cancel. OMB director Russell Vought has characterized the office's funding control as an "indispensable statutory tool" to prevent waste and enforce White House priorities. Democratic lawmakers argue this represents a significant departure from historical practice and demand compliance with legal requirements to release appropriated funds.
Read at Nature
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