DOGE-affiliated officials access NIH grant databases and begin flagging awards for administrative review

Officials affiliated with the Department of Government Efficiency gained access to National Institutes of Health administrative systems and began reviewing active grant portfolios for awards associated with diversity, equity, inclusion, gender identity, climate, or LGBTQ health. Career NIH staff described receiving instructions to apply political criteria to grant review that had no precedent in the agency's peer-review processes. Grantees began receiving notifications of administrative holds or outright cancellations without the advance notice that grant terms require. Congressional Democrats demanded documentation of who within DOGE had access to NIH systems and under what legal authority. The access to NIH's grant administration infrastructure by non-agency personnel raised concerns about the integrity of the peer-review firewall that has historically separated scientific judgment from political influence in federal grant-making.