Inbox: Trump is announcing the new PCAST membership. It is dominated by CEOs and includes only one academic scientist, John Martinis.

OMB always reviews agencies' plans for how they will spend their money before issuing apportionments. But this year agencies didn't automatically get a portion of their funds right away once the spending bill was signed, as we reported last month. They had to wait till the review was complete.

Big news: @nature.com has finally launched its TikTok page! Check out my colleagues Maren Hunsberger with a deep dive on artificial lungs and @shamini.bsky.social talking about an acoustic robot so small it could swim around inside your body. Follow us for much more content to come 🫶

🚨 Want to work at @nature.com with me? We have an ultra-rare opening on my team of reporters. This reporter, based in NYC or DC, would cover physical sciences, energy, environment, Al and policy. You'd get to work with some of the most talented editors in the biz! DM w/ any Qs. Apply by March 20!

To be clear: If you funnel thousands of scientists into a massive, broad grant pool, but use "agency priorities" or geography to decide who actually gets the money, it's true that bottom-up science becomes top-down quickly Both are true: fewer targeted NOFOs, more political influence on grants

(unless you work on climate change or racial disparities or LGBTQ health or…)

The US NIH is stepping back from 'top-down' science. My latest analysis for @nature.com shows that funding calls have plummeted by 90%, funneling billions into broad, 'investigator-initiated' ideas, rather than targeted, agency-driven ones. A massive shift for the American biomedical enterprise.

My attempt to explain-like-I'm-5 the OMB apportionment fiasco - how did I do?

BREAKING: @delauro.house.gov announces at a House Oversight hearing with NIH director Jay Bhattacharya that OMB approved the agency's apportionment last night. That means the agency should have access to its appropriated funds — 42 days after its spending bill passed.

Lawyer pal calls attn. to opening cite:

🚨 BREAKING: A federal judge has ruled in favor of @ameracadpeds.bsky.social and issued a preliminary injunction against the CDC. The ruling pauses the Jan 2026 childhood immunization schedule revisions, blocks RFK Jr's 13 recent ACIP member appointments, and pauses all votes taken by the committee.

Update 3/16: A very small handful of NIH apportionments have come through — with big exceptions. The ones that OMB has approved are all Congressionally mandated/earmarked. The broad discretionary funds that fund most NIH grants not yet been authorized. (1/2)

I got excited when I saw that NIH might have received its first apportionment from OMB today. Alas, it's for ARPA-H. OMB still has not given NIH a dime for non-salary, non-emergency expenses from the spending bill that was signed into law on Feb 3.

My colleague @alexwitze.bsky.social joined @scifri.bsky.social today to break down our reporting on how the White House is withholding funds from science agencies. One researcher dials in to say her institution is waiting on $20 million in research funding. Give it a listen ⤵️

For extra reading about this issue, I recommend checking out the @centeronbudget.bsky.social report, "Trump Administration Abused Spending Safeguards to Advance Its Agenda — and Illegally Hid Its Actions" You know it's bad when the whole case study about weaponizing apportionment is about NIH

Update: On the last day possible, NIH/HHS have extended the terms of all 6 members of the minority-health institute council. Their terms will now expire on 8/27/26 and can't be extended any further. Without new voting members, the institute won't be able to fund applications at the 2/12/27 council

It's a pretty funny criticism because 1) the data are sourced from a public database, NIH RePORTER 2) "Deranged activist" Jeremy Berg was an NIH institute director for 7 years and most importantly 3) Thacker admits the story is totally accurate

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

Indeed. New grants are not getting funded, already funded grants are not getting paid, and non-competitive renewals are being held up. Focusing on the top line budget, instead of looking at what is really happening on “the ground” is deeply misguided.

Thanks to the Nature team for digging into this. Apportionment is one of those inside-baseball issues that I hoped never to need to learn about... But here was are.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers. The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

Several scientists who are linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in files released last month are now facing consequences. go.nature.com/4qXFkYS

Watching the Olympic curling finals this weekend? Physicists still aren't 100% sure why the big granite stones 'curl' the way they do. go.nature.com/4rTOAOw

Why do curling stones slide across ice the way they do? After a century of study, physicists have theories — but they’re still not 100% sure. Stellar lede from @jennaahart.bsky.social Read the full story in @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

😑

NIH director Bhattacharya responds to my article on X, calling it misleading. He denies that there is a "banned words list" The only problem: My article never asserts there's a banned words list at NIH. I report that NIAID staff have been directed to modify "biodefense" and "pandemic preparedness".

BREAKING: NIH director Jay Bhattacharya will take on the additional role of acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two administration officials told @sherylnyt.bsky.social on Wednesday. Bhattacharya will also continue to run the NIH, she reports for @nytimes.com.

BREAKING: NIH director Jay Bhattacharya will take on the additional role of acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, two administration officials told @sherylnyt.bsky.social on Wednesday. Bhattacharya will also continue to run the NIH, she reports for @nytimes.com.

Project 2025 says (re: weather & climate) that "emphasis on prediction & management seems designed around the fatal conceit of planning for the unplannable." But it's clear that broader federal bureaucracy is being forcibly dismantled to prevent anticipation or mitigation of foreseeable future harm.

See, if we don't talk about things, and if we stop funding the talking about them, then the things just go away.

It's important to put this in context of one of the first things Taubenberger did when he took over as the director of NIAID - he canceled the premier pandemic preparedness network ("CREID" - which we were part of) because it was deemed "unsafe for Americans". Cc. @maxkozlov.bsky.social.

After more than 1.2 Americans lost their lives to Covid, NIH director Jay Bhattacharya orders the agency to deprioritize pandemic preparedness & biodefense. Make it make sense. Scoop from @maxkozlov.bsky.social @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Scoop: The NIH infectious-diseases institute (NIAID) will soon scrub “pandemic preparedness” and “biodefense” from its web pages, according to e-mails I obtained. The directive is the start of a broader shake-up at NIAID, which has long been attacked by Republicans.

Scientists are increasingly turning to AI chatbots for help drafting the grant proposals that fund their careers. Preliminary data indicate that these tools are linked with a slightly higher funding rate and might be pulling the focus of research towards safe, less-innovative ideas.

Scientists are increasingly turning to AI chatbots for help drafting the grant proposals that fund their careers. Preliminary data indicate that these tools are linked with a slightly higher funding rate and might be pulling the focus of research towards safe, less-innovative ideas.

NEW: Another NIH institute director hasn't been renewed — the director of NIAMS (arthritis, musculoskeletal and skin diseases institute). That leaves a whopping 15 of 27 institutes and centers without a permanent director.

The high proportion of US scientists among those recruited by France shows that “enthusiasm and morale for doing science is low” in the US, says Sharon Milgram, who led early-career researcher programs at NIH for nearly 20 years, until she retired in December. By @lizziegibney.bsky.social and me

The fact that Epstein had ties to the scientific community is not news, but the enormous cache of documents released by the DOJ last week was still startling. It showed just how deeply Epstein was involved—how many were in his orbit, and how deeply involved he was with some research. My reporting:

Eg fellowships or lab positions exclusively for students of a certain race or gender. Under the current EOs this is seen as an illegal preference. The administration’s argument is that choosing someone based on their demographic instead of their skills violates civil rights laws.

NEW: An appellate court has just overturned a lower court and ruled that Trump's executive orders cutting DEI programs and funding are constitutional — as long as the government only targets things that are already illegal under civil rights laws. Read the full ruling below.

Bhattacharya testified that he's taking this issue seriously, but I just spoke with a researcher who had completed all the screening and was disinvited from NIAID's council *today*. NIAID's council is set to run out of voting members in October. No grants can be funded without Council.

Reporting this story in Cameroon, I met people who were blind because larval worms died in their eyeballs: NTDs cause immense suffering and disability. But they're preventable! And treatable! And eliminatable!

For the same reason that Indiana, which is virtually the same size as Massachusetts received nearly $349 million last year in farm subsidies, while Massachusetts got only about $9 million, 1/39th of Indiana’s boon.

lol. To entertain the possibility he's asking in good faith, the very simple answer is that Boston is one of, if not the, largest hubs in the nation for scientific research with several of the nation's top research institutions. From 2025 RePORTER data, I count 205 research orgs in MA vs 23 in IN.

I'm on Capitol Hill watching NIH director Jayanta Bhattacharya testify to the Senate HELP committee. Thankfully I haven't been escorted out of this event (yet). Here's what I'm following. You can also watch live here: www.help.senate.gov/hearings/mod...

Sanders: Do vaccines cause autism to the American people? Bhattacharya: I do not believe the measles vaccine causes autism. Sanders: I didn't ask about measles. Do vaccines cause autism? Bhattacharya: I have not seen a study to suggest any **single** vaccine causes autism. (emphasis mine)

Top NIH leaders addressed my scoop that advisory councils are running out of voting members at the Reclaiming Science event (I'm now watching live stream). Memoli says NIH was 3 years behind in filling slots when he came in (but neglects to say NIH disinvited dozens of people about to join them).

This must be that radical transparency I keep hearing about.

I'm at the Willard Hotel where I've been denied entry and kicked out of the Reclaiming Science event with NIH director Bhattacharya & other top agency leaders. @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social and I registered for the event months ago yet were told capacity was full, even as they let in dozens of others.

Bhattacharya, a moment ago: "What you've been seeing in the press is that there have been funding cuts. There haven't been funding cuts. What there has been is a change in agency priorities." Our year in numbers begs to differ www.nature.com/immersive/d4...