A key military spending bill making its way through Congress includes a pair of provisions to prevent taxpayer dollars from funding research benefiting foreign adversaries, including Russia and China.
The first of two amendments offered by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to the National Defense Authorization Act will bolster the Pentagon’s ban on funding research by academics with ties to countries identified as antagonistic to the US.
It will specify the prohibition of defense dollars for “academic institutions and research institutions of the People’s Republic of China” and “the Russian Federation.”
The second provision will prohibit any Department of Defense funds from “any research, development, testing, evaluation, or training at any animal research facility located in or owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a foreign adversary.”
It also stipulates that the provision can be waived if the secretary of defense determines that the exemption would be “in the national security interests of the United States” and submits a justification to Congress.
“It is insane that I’ve had to fight for years to stop funding foreign adversaries’ labs and shady experiments by Chinese scientists with American defense dollars,” Ernst told The Post in a statement. “I am proud to have secured a major win for common sense, taxpayers, and the safety of our citizens.
“While we celebrate this long overdue win today, the fight is not over, and I will continue working to ensure that not a single tax dollar is wasted boosting the research of our adversaries or on conducting cruel and unethical experiments on animals,” the Iowa Republican added.
Both amendments would take effect during fiscal year 2026 if passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law by President Trump, who inked an executive order in May to ban so-called “gain of function” research funded by US taxpayers in countries of concern like China.
The experiments tinker with pathogens and can make them more easily transmissible or infectious for humans. --->READ MORE HERE
A former Pfizer scientist was subpoenaed Monday by House Republicans over allegations that senior executives at the pharma giant colluded to “deliberately slow down” clinical tests of its COVID-19 vaccine ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
The House Judiciary Committee ordered Dr. Philip Dormitzer, the ex-vice president and chief scientific officer of RNA and viral vaccines for Pfizer, to appear for a deposition on July 22 after demanding answers about allegations “that senior Pfizer executives conspired to withhold public health information so as to influence the 2020 presidential election.”
“To date, you have failed to voluntarily comply with our requests,” wrote Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). “Therefore, the Committee must resort to compulsory process to obtain your testimony and the requested documents.”
In a May 29 letter to the Judiciary panel, Dormitzer attorney Susan Brune indicated that her client did not have any relevant records and promised “Pfizer’s representatives are or will be in communication … to provide whatever details you might request.”
Jordan’s panel wrote to Pfizer’s chairman and CEO, Dr. Albert Bourla, in May asking for emails, texts, meeting notes and other documents showing any data from the clinical trials or communications with federal public health agencies.
Brune and reps for Pfizer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The London-based drugmaker GSK had first revealed the purported conspiracy to Jordan in an April 16 letter, claiming that Dormitzer had asked to be relocated outside the US in November 2024 “due to concerns that he could be investigated by the incoming Trump Administration over his role in developing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.” --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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