White House budget director Russell Vought asked for a new review of NIH grant awards, criticizing some programs as "woke" and inconsistent with the administration's priorities. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya defended the agency's grant process, and NIH said no rescissions would be imposed. A brief funding pause that limited expenditures to salaries, administrative costs and the Clinical Center could have affected about $15 billion. Congress later approved $48.7 billion for the NIH in FY2026, rejecting a proposed 40% cut.
Vought Pushes Review of NIH 'Woke' Grants; Brief Funding Pause Could Have Affected $15 Billion
Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought looks on during a "Steel Across America" event on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
White House Budget Director Russell Vought pressed for a fresh review of how the National Institutes of Health awards research grants after saying the agency continues to fund programs he labeled "woke" and at odds with President Donald Trump's priorities, The Washington Post reported.
According to people familiar with an Oval Office meeting, Vought and other administration officials discussed a possible new review of NIH grant-making practices. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, who attended the meeting, defended the agency's processes.
Key Developments
An NIH spokesperson told The Washington Post that the agency would not face rescissions — a tool Vought has previously used to claw back funds that Congress approved. In a statement, the spokesperson said:
"There will be no rescissions to NIH grant monies. All NIH grant monies will be spent."
Vought has been a long-standing critic of the NIH. On CBS News' "Face the Nation" in July 2025, he called some research grants wasteful and described the agency as "an agency that needs dramatic overhaul." He added that officials would have to go "line by line" to ensure NIH funding is appropriate.
Days before that interview, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and 13 other Senate Republicans wrote to Vought expressing concerns about the "slow disbursement rate of FY25 NIH funds." Two days after the interview, the White House Office of Management and Budget briefly paused NIH research funding, limiting spending to salaries, administrative costs and the agency's Clinical Center; the funds were released later that same day.
Funding And Congressional Response
The temporary pause could have affected roughly $15 billion in NIH-supported work, the office of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said at the time. The administration had proposed a 40% cut to NIH funding, but Congress rejected that plan and instead approved $48.7 billion for the agency in fiscal year 2026 — $415 million more than the prior year, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
This episode underscores ongoing tensions between the administration's budget office and NIH leadership over research priorities and grant oversight, even as Congress reaffirmed robust funding for the agency.
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