Bipartisan Senate bill would delay White House science funding overhaul

A bipartisan group of US senators released a draft spending bill on August 2 that would temporarily block a White House proposal to overhaul federally funded science. The proposal, issued by the Office of Management and Budget in May, would give political appointees control over federal grant review and restrict collaboration between US and international scientists. If finalized, the rule could take effect October 1.

The Senate Appropriations Committee's bill aims chiefly to avert a government shutdown by extending federal agency funding at current levels until December 11 while budget negotiations continue. As a condition of that extension, the bill would delay the White House grant-review rule from taking effect until the same December date.

Opposition to the proposal spans party lines. Democratic members of the House sent a letter in June warning that replacing peer review with political grantmaking would disrupt health research. Senator Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Appropriations Committee, said last month the rule would undermine scientific and biomedical research and conflict with Congress's control over federal funding.

For the delay to take effect, the Senate must pass the bill and the House must follow before it reaches the president's desk. A government shutdown last year led to a 43-day lapse in operations at federal science agencies, including a halt in research grant issuance.

Read the full story at nature.com.