On Friday, February 7, Trump set off a megaton blast by reducing the allowable overhead rate for NIH grants to 15%. This is how NIH says the overhead works. //

The average rate inside NIH stood at about 25 percent; that is, $9 billion of the $35 billion in research grants was skimmed off the top. Allegedly, this money went to support the lab, but "support" is an expansive term that might be used to describe a DEI administrator or business class airfare to a five-star hotel for a "conference.". //

But, in the media, you'd have thought that Donald Trump was personally destroying America's competitive advantage in science, never mind that the overhead rate from the Gates Foundation is 10%, and none of the big private grant funders exceed 15%. //

Ten years ago, the GAO pointed out how overhead was killing scientific research; see NIH Should Assess the Impact of Growth in Indirect Costs on Its Mission. Just five years ago, it was common to find articles demanding a lowering of the overhead rates: The NIH needs to become leaner and more innovative. Here's how | STAT. //

Five years ago, overhead rates were killing science, but with Trump as president, lowering overhead hurts science. Go figure.