WASHINGTON, D.C. — Clinical psychologist and researcher Colette Delawalla is leading a campaign against a proposed rule from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that would place federal research and other grant decisions under the authority of political appointees. The OMB proposed the rule on May 29. Public comments on the proposed rule are due by July 13.

The proposed rule also states that discretionary awards must demonstrably advance the president's policy priorities. Additionally, the rule prohibits certain types of international collaboration in federally funded research. Delawalla founded the organization Stand Up for Science to address the issue.

Delawalla stated, "It would dismantle the US science ecosystem – but also all federal discretionary grants." She also stated, "We're advocating for democracy. If you tell people in a country they're not allowed to study certain things with federal money, you're not in a free country."

Stand Up for Science analyzed approximately 10,000 National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trials. The organization estimated that nearly half of these trials could be discontinued under the proposed rule. As of Thursday morning, nearly 31,000 comments had been submitted on the OMB's website regarding the rule. Delawalla, a clinical psychologist and researcher at Emory University in Atlanta, visited Capitol Hill for three days, met individually with more than 30 members of Congress, and held a virtual meeting with approximately 50 attorneys across the U.S. to discuss legal strategies.

No independent assessment of Colette Delawalla’s claims was available.