WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Science Coalition’s Communications Director, Daniel Jacobs, issued the following statement in response to the White House’s Executive Order on Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking:
“For more than 80 years, federal agencies have established rigorous, time-tested grantmaking procedures that led to groundbreaking scientific discoveries — from GPS to GLP-1s. The administration’s latest action will put future breakthroughs at risk by placing grantmaking authority into the hands of political appointees and potentially undermining efforts to maintain America’s technological dominance and scientific leadership.
“The proposal also appears to create a number of inefficiencies throughout the grant review process that, given the significant volume of application solicitations and submissions, will likely cause significant delays in cutting-edge scientific research.
“We strongly encourage the White House to work closely with the private sector and academic research institutions — the cornerstone of America’s world-class scientific research enterprise — to depoliticize the federal grantmaking process and implement the expert, independent grant review standards that have driven American scientific leadership since World War II.”
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