Sponsors (41)
The bill strengthens protections against political influence and increases transparency and continuity for federally funded biomedical research, but does so at the cost of reduced administrative flexibility for executives and agencies and increased compliance burdens and potential delays in responding to urgent risks.
Researchers, universities, hospitals, and scientists will face less political influence in NIH/ARPA‑H grant reviews and award decisions, preserving merit-based funding and scientific objectivity.
Taxpayers, Congress, and the public gain faster transparency and oversight because NIH and HHS must report political-employee participation and submit written findings to relevant committees within 30 days of cancellations or suspensions.
Federal agencies (including HHS) and federal employees obtain a clear statutory definition of 'political employee,' improving consistent application of ethics, disclosure, and recusal rules.
Federal agencies, political appointees, and administrations will have reduced flexibility to place political leaders into NIH operational roles or rapidly align agency leadership with new policy priorities, potentially slowing policy shifts and complicating interagency collaboration.
Career staff, contractors, and lower‑level employees who act 'on behalf of' political employees could be swept into the broader 'political employee' definition, creating confusion, expanding restrictions, and risking discretionary enforcement.
NIH, ARPA‑H, and HHS would face increased administrative and compliance costs (classification tracking, reporting, written findings) that divert staff time from research program management and raise costs for taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Bars political employees from NIH employment and from participating in NIH/ARPA‑H funding decisions; restricts cancellation of awards and requires a retroactive report on prior political participation.
Prohibits political employees from working for or taking part in NIH management decisions and from participating in review, scoring, selection, or awarding of NIH or ARPA‑H grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or other funding arrangements. It defines who counts as a “political employee,” allows the NIH, NCI, and ARPA‑H directors to be political appointees, requires a retroactive report on political‑employee participation since Jan 20, 2021, and limits the agency’s ability to cancel, delay, or suspend awarded agreements except for narrow, documented reasons.
Introduced January 21, 2026 by Diana DeGette · Last progress January 21, 2026