US federal research funding overhaul

In July 2026 the Trump administration unveiled a sweeping proposal to shift control of roughly $150 billion in annual scientific research grants—including the NIH budget—to political appointees, aiming to prioritize projects aligned with presidential goals and to eliminate funding for work on diversity, equity, inclusion, transgender issues, or research labeled “anti‑American.” The plan sparked intense backlash, drawing half‑a‑million public comments, bipartisan criticism, and threats of lawsuits from 22 state attorneys general, while scientists warned that cancelling thousands of grants could damage climate modeling and public‑health research.

Two days later the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a follow‑up report, "Science: A New Golden Age," framing the overhaul as an effort to modernize the U.S. research system and keep pace with China. The new guidance redirected billions from traditional university‑based research toward artificial‑intelligence initiatives, high‑risk, high‑reward projects, and an ambitious USDA AI crop challenge under the Genesis Mission. A $5 billion AI push will fund AI‑driven work in health, construction and other sectors, while the agricultural challenge seeks AI tools to accelerate breeding of resilient, high‑yield crops. Together, the measures represent a pivot from the earlier backlash‑laden proposal toward a technology‑centric research agenda.