September 26, 2025
Ms. Stevens introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
To direct the National Institutes of Health to reinstate funding to recipients of grants or other awards, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Stop RFK’s Bad Science Act
or the Stop RFK’s BS Act
.
Sec. 2. Reinstatement of funding for national institutes of health grants and other awards
(a) In general
Effective beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, any covered grants or awards terminated or suspended during the period beginning on January 20, 2025, and ending on the date of the enactment of this Act, shall be, unless the Director makes a finding of financial mismanagement, research fraud, or malfeasance with respect to such grants or awards—
(1)
reinstated; and
(2)
considered obligated.
(b) Approved requests
A payment request made by the recipient of a covered grant or award to a National Institutes of Health official with respect to such covered grant or award shall be disbursed as soon as possible, and in no case later than 30 calendar days after the date on which such a payment request is submitted to the National Institutes of Health official.
(c) 1-Year extension of term
In the case of a covered grant or award that is reinstated or disbursed under subsection (a) or (b) (as the case may be), the budget period of such grant or award shall be extended for a 1-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Budget period
The term budget period
has the meaning given such term in section 1.2 of the document entitled NIH Grants Policy Statement
, published in April 2024 by the National Institutes of Health.
(2) Covered grant or award
The term covered grant or award
means a grant or other award made by a National Institutes of Health official under a provision of law administered by such an official.
(3) Director
The term Director
means the Director of the National Institutes of Health.
(4) National institutes of health official
The term National Institutes of Health official
means—
(A)
the Director; and
(B)
any other official within the National Institutes of Health with responsibility for making a grant or award of Federal funds under a provision of law administered by the Director or such other official.