"As we previously reported, the order requires that any announcement of funding opportunities be reviewed by the head of the agency or someone they designate, which means a political appointee will have the ultimate say over what areas of science the US funds. Individual grants will also require clearance from a political appointee and "must, where applicable, demonstrably advance the President's policy priorities.""
"In short, the new rules would mean that all federal science research would need to be approved by a political appointee who may have no expertise in the relevant areas, and the research can be canceled at any time if the political winds change. It would mark the end of a system that has enabled US scientific leadership for roughly 70 years."
An executive order places political control over grant funding, including all federally supported research. The order requires announcements of funding opportunities to be reviewed by agency heads or their designees, giving political appointees authority over which scientific areas receive funding. Individual grants require clearance from political appointees and must, where applicable, demonstrably advance the President's policy priorities. Agencies must formalize authority to cancel previously awarded grants if they are considered no longer advancing agency priorities. Agencies are forbidden from starting new funding programs until enforcement systems exist. The rules enable cancellation of research based on shifting political priorities and undermine a long-standing merit-based peer-review system.
Read at Ars Technica
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]