I 
119TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7173 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure scientific integrity in 
the activities of the National Institutes of Health and prevent the diver-
sion of funds to politically driven activities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 21, 2026 
Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Mrs. DINGELL, 
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. JOHNSON of Geor-
gia, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. 
MULLIN, Mr. AMO, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CARSON, Ms. KELLY of 
Illinois, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. LANDSMAN, Mrs. 
MCCLAIN DELANEY, Ms. MORRISON, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
ELFRETH, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. COHEN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. 
DELBENE, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. DEXTER, Mrs. TRAHAN, 
Ms. SCHRIER, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. PETTERSEN, 
and Ms. SIMON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to ensure scientific 
integrity in the activities of the National Institutes of 
Health and prevent the diversion of funds to politically 
driven activities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Follow the Science 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. POLITICAL APPOINTEE DEFINED. 
Section 2 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(r) The term ‘political employee’— 
‘‘(1) means any individual occupying— 
‘‘(A) a position described under sections 
5312 through 5316 of title 5, United States 
Code (relating to the Executive Schedule); 
‘‘(B) a position under a noncareer appoint-
ment (as that term is defined under section 
3132(a) of such title) in the Senior Executive 
Service; 
‘‘(C) a position in the executive branch of 
the Government of a confidential or policy-de-
termining character under schedule C of sub-
part C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal 
Regulations; 
‘‘(D) a position in schedule G of the ex-
cepted service (established by Executive Order 
14317 titled ‘Creating Schedule G in the Ex-
cepted Service’); or 
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‘‘(E) any other position that has been ex-
cepted from the competitive service by reason of 
the confidential, policy-determining, policy-mak-
ing, or policy-advocating character of the posi-
tion; and 
‘‘(2) includes any individual acting on behalf of 
an individual described in paragraph (1).’’. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION BY POLITICAL 
APPOINTEES IN NIH ACTIVITIES. 
Section 401 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 281) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as 
subsections (h) and (i), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(g) PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION BY POLITICAL 
APPOINTEES IN NIH ACTIVITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except for the Director of 
NIH, the Director of the National Cancer Institute, 
and the Director of the Advanced Research Projects 
Agency for Health, no political employee may— 
‘‘(A) be employed by the National Insti-
tutes of Health; or 
‘‘(B) participate in the implementation of 
general policies respecting the management and 
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operation of programs and activities within the 
National Institutes of Health. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1)(B) shall not 
apply to the participation of a political employee in 
an activity carried out by the National Institutes of 
Health if— 
‘‘(A) the political employee is employed by 
a Federal department or agency other than the 
National Institutes of Health; and 
‘‘(B) the participation is specifically re-
quired under this title. 
‘‘(3) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to affect the re-
quirements of section 406 or 492.’’. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION BY POLITICAL 
EMPLOYEES IN NIH GRANTS, CONTRACTS, 
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, OTHER TRANS-
ACTIONS, AND OTHER FUNDING ARRANGE-
MENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 282) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(p) PROHIBITION ON PARTICIPATION BY POLITICAL 
EMPLOYEES IN NIH GRANTS, CONTRACTS, COOPERATIVE 
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AGREEMENTS, OTHER
TRANSACTIONS, 
AND
OTHER 
FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of NIH, shall ensure that no 
political employee participates in the solicitation, re-
view, scoring, selection, or awarding of grants, con-
tracts, cooperative agreements, other transactions, 
or other funding arrangements made by the Na-
tional Institutes of Health or the Advanced Research 
Projects Agency for Health. 
‘‘(2) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to affect the re-
quirements of section 406 or section 492.’’. 
(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 
the National Institutes of Health shall submit to Congress 
a report containing an accounting of the participation of 
political employees in the activities described in section 
402(p)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (as added by 
subsection (a) of this section) during the period beginning 
on January 20, 2021, and ending on the date of enact-
ment of this Act. 
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SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF NIH GRANTS, CONTRACTS, 
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND OTHER 
TRANSACTIONS. 
Section 402 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 282) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(p) PROHIBITION
ON CERTAIN PROJECT CAN-
CELLATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, including section 200.340(a)(4) of 
title 2, Code of Federal Regulations (or any suc-
cessor regulation), the Secretary, acting through the 
Director of NIH, shall not cancel, delay, or suspend 
any covered agreement, including through use of the 
Payment Management System (or any successor sys-
tem), unless the Secretary, acting through the Direc-
tor— 
‘‘(A) issues written findings of financial 
mismanagement, research fraud, debarment, or 
malfeasance with respect to the covered agree-
ment; and 
‘‘(B) not later than 30 days after the date 
of the cancellation or suspension, submits to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 
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the Senate notice of the cancellation or suspen-
sion, including a copy of such written findings. 
‘‘(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The implemen-
tation of a covered agreement under subsection (a) 
shall be— 
‘‘(A) in accordance with the terms and 
conditions of the covered agreement; and 
‘‘(B) for the full period specified in the 
covered agreement. 
‘‘(3) COVERED AGREEMENT DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘covered agreement’ means any 
grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or other 
transaction.’’. 
Æ 
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