THE United States is the largest science funder in the world, remaining ahead of China in total spend on R&D. This funding is distributed through supporting universities and through funding agencies like Nasa, the US Air Force research programmes, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies. This budget is now controlled by executive orders from Donald Trump.

The NIH has been particularly prominent in reports on the edicts that Trump has sent out over the last week. Trump ordered a halt on meetings, communications, travel and training for the around 20,000 scientists and administrators that are salaried by the funding agency. A short halt in this kind of spending is common for around a day during a change in administration in the US, as each government has its own priorities and gets to set its funding agenda. The current situation is unusual because of the length of the pause, which continues for 11 days.

The NIH is the largest biomedical research funder in the world, funding everything from genetic research to epidemiology, cancer, vaccination and public health. Similar to Britain, where the board of the national funding agency (UKRI) is appointed by the minister for science, innovation and technology, the heads of the funding agencies in the US are direct appointments by the US president. (The current board of the UKRI includes people with histories in nuclear power, financial investment, oil and gas, computer processors and university management).