Analysis: Why the research money isn't flowing from NSF and NIH: White House review of agency spending plans for this year is causing delays.

The article focuses on delays in federal research funding caused by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Donald Trump, which is slowing the release of appropriated funds to agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The OMB’s two-step approval process—apportionment followed by agency spending plan approval—is being used to exert greater control over agency budgets, sometimes imposing restrictions or conditions not specified by Congress. For example, NSF’s largest accounts for research and STEM education face ambiguous footnotes limiting fund disbursement, while NIH’s funding is currently restricted to salaries and operating expenses. These delays have raised concerns among researchers and budget experts about the potential impact on federally funded scientific research. [Extracted from the article]