U.S. Defunded EcoHealth for Gain-of-Function Oversight Lapses Only to Waive It for 'Any Federal Agency' Conducting Deadly Pathogen Experiments: Bioweapons Wild West?

Another pandemic around the corner?

In a striking sequence of events, the U.S. government defunded EcoHealth Alliance on May 15, 2024, for cited gain-of-function oversight lapses, only to waive gain-of-function oversight requirements for every single federal agency just days earlier.

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On May 1, 2024, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a report recommending that EcoHealth Alliance and its president, Dr. Peter Daszak, be formally debarred and barred from future taxpayer funding, citing inadequate oversight of high-risk pathogen research.

Yet, just five days later, on May 6, 2024, the White House issued (here) a rule allowing “any federal department” to bypass critical safety checks on high-risk pathogen research, enabling each agency to circumvent the very oversight protocols EcoHealth was penalized for allegedly neglecting.

This timing raises uncomfortable questions: if the White House was aware of the Select Subcommittee’s serious concerns about gain-of-function oversight, why would it push through a rule that effectively waives those very safeguards?

Such a decision prompts scrutiny over the Biden administration’s true intentions and the rationale behind relaxing oversight standards precisely when accountability was being called into question.

EcoHealth Defunded for Lapses in Gain-of-Function Oversight

EcoHealth Alliance’s defunding followed the May 1 report, which highlighted serious accusations about EcoHealth’s collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The Select Subcommittee recommended cutting off EcoHealth’s access to federal funding, citing repeated violations of grant terms and a failure to provide critical oversight on gain-of-function research.

The accusations centered on EcoHealth’s inability to monitor risky research effectively, compounded by claims of ignoring requests for information from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“EcoHealth Alliance President Dr. Peter Daszak is not a good steward of U.S. taxpayer dollars and should never again receive funding from the U.S. taxpayer,” Subcommittee Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) said in a press release.

“Dr. Daszak and his organization conducted dangerous gain-of-function research at the WIV, willfully violated the terms of a multi-million-dollar NIH grant, and placed U.S. national security at risk. This blatant contempt for the American people is reprehensible. It is imperative to establish higher standards of oversight at the NIH. The Select Subcommittee’s detailed and comprehensive report today holds Dr. Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance accountable and sheds light on severe shortcomings in our public health systems.”

The Subcommittee recommended “that EcoHealth Alliance and Dr. Peter Daszak are formally debarred and cut off from receiving any future U.S. taxpayer funding.”

On May 15, in line with the Subcommittee’s recommendation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) suspended all federal funding to EcoHealth and proposed its formal debarment, limiting its ability to continue pathogen research.

“EcoHealth Alliance and Dr. Peter Daszak should never again receive a single penny from the U.S. taxpayer,” Chairman Wenstrup said in repose to HHS’s decision to pull funding. “EcoHealth’s immediate funding suspension and future debarment is not only a victory for the U.S. taxpayer, but also for American national security and the safety of citizens worldwide.”

The defunding should have sent a strong signal: gain-of-function research requires vigilant oversight, particularly when it involves high-risk international collaborations.

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White House Rule Waives Oversight Across All Federal Agencies

What makes the timing particularly significant is that, on May 6, 2024—just days after the Select Subcommittee’s call to action—the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), a key advisory body to the White House, issued a sweeping new rule.

This rule permits “any” federal department or independent agency to waive oversight on gain-of-function research for up to 180 days, with the option for renewal, whenever they deem it necessary to expedite a response to an “emergency.”

This waiver applies to “Category 1” and “Category 2” pathogen research, including work involving Pathogens with Enhanced Pandemic Potential (PEPP), and even the resurrection of extinct viruses like smallpox and Spanish flu.

The OSTP policy carefully avoids the term “gain-of-function,” instead focusing on “enhanced pandemic potential” pathogens.

However, the research it enables—including increasing transmissibility, immune evasion, or virulence—matches gain-of-function activities by definition.

By effectively rebranding gain-of-function research, the OSTP appears to bypass the controversy surrounding the term, even as it grants agencies sweeping authority to conduct these high-risk studies.

Mixed Signals in Government Oversight: A Double Standard?

The near-simultaneous actions of defunding EcoHealth while waiving oversight for every other federal agency present a stark inconsistency.

On one hand, the government emphasized the need for strict gain-of-function oversight by defunding EcoHealth.

On the other, just days later, it issued a rule granting unprecedented leeway for all federal departments to bypass the very oversight EcoHealth was penalized for allegedly failing to meet.

This waiver power isn’t confined to biosecurity agencies like HHS or the Department of Defense (DOD).

It extends to any “federal funding agencies that are not under a department,” enabling them to proceed with gain-of-function-type research unencumbered by the oversight that would normally be required.

A Shift in Biosecurity Policy and the Potential for New Risks

The timing of these decisions reveals a concerning contradiction: while EcoHealth was penalized for oversight failures, federal agencies now have free rein to bypass oversight under the OSTP’s waiver rule.

This broad authority not only highlights a double standard but also calls into question the government’s commitment to consistent biosecurity practices as well as its intentions to develop bioweapons.

Loosening oversight on gain-of-function research for “emergency” purposes could backfire, potentially allowing dangerous pathogens to escape or be deployed in controlled settings.

As this new policy takes effect in 2025, the risks associated with waivers across agencies will demand scrutiny.

If oversight lapses contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, then waiving oversight could open the door to similar risks.

While EcoHealth was defunded as a warning against insufficient biosecurity, the Bidemn White House’s own rule may have set the stage for a “bioweapons Wild West”—a precarious future where pandemic-level pathogen research proceeds without the oversight intended to keep it safe.

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