Trump administration violated impoundment law by canceling NIH grants, slowing new awards, GAO finds
In a scathing report issued Tuesday, the Government Accountability Office found that the Trump administration, by abruptly canceling National Institutes of Health grants, had violated a 1974 law blocking presidents from withholding funding Congress has approved.
The independent congressional watchdog said that in terminating over 1,800 NIH grants in response to President Trump’s executive orders directing agencies to cut off federal funding for equity-related activities, the administration illegally withheld funds. In addition, the GAO found that the NIH’s $8 billion shortfall in new and continuing awards between February and July amounted to an illegal withholding of obligated funds.
Anil Oza and Megan Molteni
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