Bill > HR7173

This bill, titled the "Follow the Science Act," aims to ensure scientific integrity at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by restricting the involvement of "political employees" in its activities and funding decisions. A political employee is defined broadly to include individuals in high-level executive positions, those with non-career appointments in the Senior Executive Service, and others in policy-determining or policy-advocating roles. The bill prohibits these political employees, with specific exceptions for certain leadership positions like the Director of NIH, from being employed by or participating in the general management and operations of the NIH, unless their involvement is specifically required by law and they are employed by another federal agency. Furthermore, political employees are barred from participating in any aspect of the NIH's grant and contract processes, including solicitation, review, scoring, selection, and awarding of funding. The bill also introduces new restrictions on the NIH's ability to cancel, delay, or suspend existing funding agreements, requiring written findings of financial mismanagement, research fraud, or other serious issues before such actions can be taken, and mandating notification to Congress.

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https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7173/all-info