STAT+: Trump administration to strip job protections of top NIH officials, grants staff
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President Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday defining thousands of positions within the civil service sector that the administration will reclassify as political appointees. Among those merit-based positions, which the White House estimates to be 8,000, are many high-level officials who oversee the review and disbursement of research grants from the National Institutes of Health. Biomedical researchers and policy experts decried the change when it was proposed, saying that by removing the protections of federal workers, they will be easier to fire. Science officials fear the shift makes the grants process more susceptible to political whims and risks destabilizing the research enterprise, which requires predictability over longtime horizons. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…