Proposed changes could give political appointees a larger role in decisions over federal health-research funding.

WASHINGTON — September 21, 2026 — The Trump administration is considering a new system that could give political appointees a greater role in deciding which National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants receive federal funding.

According to Reuters, President Donald Trump has directed Budget Director Russ Vought to draft an executive order that would create a board responsible for approving NIH grants. The proposed board would include Vought and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, with unanimous agreement reportedly required for funding decisions.

The proposal could change the way billions of dollars in U.S. medical research funding are distributed. NIH funding supports research into areas including cancer, infectious diseases, chronic conditions and other biomedical fields.

The reported plan comes after the administration previously froze or canceled some federal research grants at universities. Administration officials have argued that changes are needed to ensure federal research funding supports what they consider strong scientific work.

The proposal has not yet been formally announced as an executive order, and the White House and federal health agencies had not immediately commented on the report.

The potential changes are being closely watched by medical researchers, universities and the broader U.S. healthcare research community because of the NIH's central role in funding biomedical science.