Just let that sink in: the NIH claims that understanding the risk of bat coronavirus emergence does not align with agency priorities. The excuse for canceling the grant is laughable.
This is widely viewed as a major attack on the way that science is funded in the US. Politics sets the overall funding priorities, but experts decide on which specific grants to fund. The president intervening to cancel a particular grant that has already been awarded - based on positive reviews by experts - is an attack on this system.
In response, 77 US Nobel laureates in scientific fields have demanded an explanation for the cancellation of the grant.[3]
1. https://youtu.be/dvXYFQRxYIA
2. https://www.sciencemag.org/sites/default/files/Lauer.Daszak....
3. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/preposterous-77-nobe...