First, let’s check in on what is going on with federal grants. There has been a lot of back and forth.
Mainly, the projections I discussed in last month’s update are now in place. Namely, an executive order has been implemented which requires all federal grants to be reviewed by a political appointee. This appointee would screen proposals to verify whether they “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities”. As with other executive orders, this might still be challenged in court. Nonetheless, it contributes to the growing chaos created for grant-seekers (including myself).
With regards to grant retractions, there has been lots of back and forth. For example, both the NIH and the NSF suspended approximately 300 grants to UCLA at the beginning of August, but then a Judge ordered NSF to reinstate them two weeks later, as it was in defiance of a direct court order. For now, UCLA research is on pause, hindering work from plasma physics to computer science, and research on the LA fires.
https://www.science.org/content/article/has-nsf-defied-court-order-suspending-300-ucla-grants
On the other hand, the supreme court upheld the cancellation of 800 NIH grants on “sensitive topics” worth $783 million. These so-called sensitive topics include COVID-19, diversity equity & inclusion, and transgender health research. These grants had been revoked, then reinstated, and now have been revoked again. As you can imagine, this is all incredibly disruptive for researchers across the US, slowing many projects to a snail’s pace.
https://www.science.org/content/article/supreme-court-upholds-trump-cancellation-nih-grants
Chaos is also brewing at the Center for Disease Control.
On August 28th, 2025, The CDC director Susan Monarez, was fired, causing resignations from multiple other top agency officials. Her dismissal was related to her refusal to adopt new restrictions on US vaccine directives put in place by RFK Jr., the director of Human Health Services. Monarez’s lawyers are challenging her dismissal, as the director of the CDC is a presidential appointee and thus may only be dismissed by the president.
This confusion at the CDC has also resulted in a delay of the meeting in which the recommendations for the new COVID 19 shots are decided. This meeting is directed towards deciding which strains to target, and the limitations on who should have access to the vaccines.
As covered on the Daily Tech News Show on September 2nd, 2025. For a more detailed discussion of the topic, listen here:
Nicole Ackermans, CVN lab 
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