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Key senators reject White House proposal on NIH grants
Sens. Susan Collins and Patty Murray are rejecting efforts by the Trump administration to give the White House control of National Institutes of Health grant funding.
Collins, a Republican, is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Murray is the panel's ranking Democratic member.
READ MORE: Trump administration has cut or frozen $177 billion in grants across every state, analysis shows
Any attempt to "politicize grantmaking" at NIH, whether through an executive order or guidance is "contrary to congressional intent," Collins said in a press release.
A report in Politico said Trump has directed his budget director, Russ Vought, to create a board that would decide which grants NIH would fund.
Murray said that under the administration's effort, a single political appointee could kill a cancer study for no scientific reason.
"Whether lifesaving medical research gets funded or not should be determined by experts at the NIH—not a panel of lackeys chosen by Donald Trump and Russ Vought," Murray said.
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