A better question would be: what was the need for this exhibit to exist in the first place? It seems a little...cult-ish...even for a place where the highest aspiration is to be a 5th grade field trip stop. But we digress.
“In the past 48 hours, HHS canceled 62 contract[s] worth $182 million. These contracts were entirely for administrative expenses — none touched any healthcare programs. This included terminating a $168,000 contract for an Anthony Fauci exhibit at the NIH Museum,” DOGE wrote on its X account this week.
The cut is part of more than $180 million in cuts being made, according to the New York Post.
The Post wrote this week that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had planned to spend $168,000 on an exhibit honoring Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland, set for completion by July.
Now where will we take the kids for summer vacation?
However, the project was scrapped following pressure from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which claims to have saved taxpayers billions through similar cost-cutting measures, though some face legal challenges.
Fauci led the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, gaining prominence for his work on AIDS and later as a key figure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
His handling of the pandemic, including support for strict mitigation measures, drew sharp criticism, particularly from conservatives. He also faced controversy over his congressional testimony about U.S. funding for gain-of-function research abroad. Emails revealed that a Fauci aide helped reinstate a grant for EcoHealth Alliance’s work at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, with Fauci allegedly informed via a “secret back channel.”
Fauci denied involvement, stating he didn’t “recall any specific interaction.”
Last month, former President Donald Trump ended funding for Fauci’s post-retirement security detail, stating, “You can’t have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government.”
Before leaving office, President Joe Biden controversially issued a pre-emptive pardon for Fauci - we're sure for no reason at all - amid concerns he could face prosecution under a Trump administration.
In addition to canceling the exhibit, NIH announced reforms to its grant process to reduce administrative overhead, aiming to save $4 billion annually. “Last year, $9B of the $35B NIH granted for research was used for administrative overhead,” NIH stated on X. “Today, NIH lowered the maximum indirect cost rate research institutions can charge the government to 15%,” significantly less than the 60%+ charged by some institutions.
