Comment from Matt Houpert

Adding to the hundreds of thousands saying "Don't do this", I strongly OPPOSE this proposed rule by OMB. I am a Ph.D. candidate at Vanderbilt University, doing basic science research on how immune cells in the brain clear dying cells. My research is important to help us better understand how the nervous system develops, how it stays healthy, and what happens when it starts to deteriorate. My research, unfortunately, will not discover the cure for cancer. Most research doesn't, science is hard, and there surely are ways to improve the scientific enterprise in the United States. Installing a presidential appointee to have final control over grantmaking is not the proper solution. It will devastate biomedical research leading to less science, less doctors, less cures, less treatments, overall more death. No one should support rules that lead to more death. Moreover, the fundamental logic of the proposed rule relies on is objectively flawed. It uses misinformation and anecdotal evidence to malign US science funding agencies, and make a proposal that would fundamentally undermine the peer review process that has ensured US science keeps progress driving forward.