Sponsors (42)
The bill strengthens protections for merit-based NIH/ARPA-H funding, grant continuity, and transparency—reducing politicization of research—at the cost of increased administrative requirements, possible delays in enforcement or project pauses, reduced executive appointment flexibility, and new classification-related impacts on some federal employees.
Scientists, researchers, and institutions: the bill reduces political-appointee influence over NIH/ARPA-H grant decisions, protecting merit-based awards and public trust in scientific funding.
NIH/ARPA-H awardees and research projects: grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements are more likely to remain active for their full periods because NIH generally must document fraud, mismanagement, debarment, or malfeasance with written findings before suspending or canceling funding.
HHS and federal administrators: the bill creates a clearer, more uniform definition of 'political employee,' improving consistency in applying PHSA rules and reducing some legal disputes about who is covered.
Federal employees (SES noncareer, Schedule C/G, designees): more staff may be newly classified as 'political employees,' exposing them to different rules, loss of civil-service protections, and greater job insecurity.
NIH/ARPA-H and other agencies: the bill restricts the President's ability to place political appointees into certain NIH positions and may limit interagency coordination that relies on political-appointee involvement, reducing executive flexibility.
HHS, NIH, and ARPA-H staff and awardees: implementing and enforcing the new definitions and prohibitions creates administrative and compliance burdens (tracking classifications, producing findings, reporting) that could divert resources and delay award timelines.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Bars most political appointees from NIH employment and from participating in NIH/ARPA‑H funding decisions; limits cancellation of awards absent written findings and committee notice.
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure scientific integrity in the activities of the National Institutes of Health and prevent the diversion of funds to politically driven activities, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 21, 2026 by Diana DeGette · Last progress January 21, 2026
Prohibits most political appointees from working at or taking part in management, grant review, or funding decisions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and ARPA-H, with narrow exceptions for certain agency directors and when other agencies are required to participate. Requires a 30‑day congressional report accounting for political-employee participation in NIH funding decisions since January 20, 2021, and restricts the Secretary (through the NIH Director) from cancelling, suspending, or delaying covered grants or agreements except with written findings of serious wrongdoing and prompt notice to congressional committees.