Sec. 229. Prohibition on availability of funds for gain of function research
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None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of Defense may be obligated or expended— to conduct gain-of-function research on any potential pandemic pathogen at any facility operated by or on behalf of the Department; or to award contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, or any other form of financial assistance to any institution of higher education, nonprofit organization, private entity, or other research institute that is conducting gain-of-function research on potential pandemic pathogens. The Secretary of Defense may waive the prohibition under subsection
(a)on a case-by-case basis, with respect to an individual research project, grant, contract, or cooperative agreement, if the Secretary determines that such a waiver is in the national interests of the United States. Not later than 30 days before the date on which an award is made, a project is initiated, or an agreement entered into, with respect to which a waiver is made under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives notice of such waiver. In this section: The term gain-of-function research means any research that may be reasonably anticipated to confer an attribute to a pathogen such that the pathogen would have enhanced pathogenicity or transmissibility in mammals. The term potential pandemic pathogen means a pathogen that, as a result of any gain-of-function research— is likely more transmissible or likely capable of wide and uncontrollable spread in human populations; is likely more virulent or likely to cause modest or greater morbidity or mortality in humans; or is likely to pose a severe threat to public health, the capacity of the public health systems to function, or national security.