Trump’s Science Policy: Reforming Research Funding or Risking It?

In this episode of The Miller Report: Real Clear Journalism, we discuss a new RealClearInvestigations report that digs into a major and often overlooked battle over scientific policy: how taxpayer dollars are spent on federal research. Lead investigator Paul Hacker examines “indirect costs,” the overhead payments the NIH sends to universities on top of research grants, which can reach 50 to 70 percent of total funding.

The Trump administration moved to cap those costs, arguing that too much money goes to bureaucracy rather than science. The proposal sparked lawsuits and fierce pushback, leaving the system unchanged for now. But critics say this debate predates Trump and raises serious questions about transparency, accountability, and whether research dollars are being used as intended.