WASHINGTON (Diya TV) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has launched a broad review of more than 120 foreign biological laboratories that received U.S. taxpayer funding over several decades. The investigation follows President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting so-called gain-of-function research and aims to identify experiments that could pose risks to public health and national security.
Gabbard said her office will examine where the laboratories operate, what pathogens they contain, and what kind of research scientists conduct inside the facilities. The review will include all U.S.-funded labs involved in virus research overseas.
“The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the catastrophic global impact research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs can have,” Gabbard said in a statement Monday.
Officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the laboratories operate across more than 30 countries. Some of the facilities previously received support through the Defense Department’s Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which the United States created after the Cold War to reduce the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
The program funds research designed to improve biosecurity, track dangerous pathogens, and prevent future disease outbreaks. Critics, however, argue that weak oversight and complex funding channels make it difficult for Americans to know how researchers use taxpayer money.
ODNI officials said current clinical trials and biological research projects raise “ethical, financial, and security concerns.” The intelligence review will assess whether labs conduct gain-of-function experiments that may increase the transmissibility or severity of viruses.
Gain-of-function research has sparked fierce debate in recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Supporters say the work helps scientists understand viruses and prepare vaccines or treatments before outbreaks occur. Critics warn that lab accidents could trigger global health emergencies.
The investigation also renews attention on U.S.-linked biological research facilities in Ukraine. In March 2022, the Biden administration denied claims that the United States owned or operated biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine after Russia invaded the country. The White House issued the clarification after former Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland told lawmakers that Ukraine had “biological research facilities” that officials feared Russian troops could seize.
Trump administration officials now argue that the Biden administration attempted to shape public opinion by minimizing U.S. involvement with overseas biological research programs. According to ODNI officials, internal strategies focused on countering what officials viewed as foreign disinformation campaigns tied to Russia and China.
Trump signed an executive action last year banning federal funding for gain-of-function research in countries such as China and Iran if those nations lacked proper oversight standards. The administration cited concerns that dangerous pathogens could escape from research facilities through accidents or poor safety controls. Trump has repeatedly argued that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed weaknesses in global laboratory oversight.
The Defense Department’s inspector general previously reported that officials could not fully determine how many enhanced potential pandemic pathogens researchers studied overseas between 2014 and 2023. During that period, the government spent more than $1.4 billion on related research outside the United States.
The debate intensified after the National Institutes of Health determined that U.S.-funded experiments involving bat coronaviruses at the Wuhan Institute of Virology violated grant conditions. NIH officials said researchers increased the infectivity of certain viruses during the studies. Scientists and public health agencies, however, continue to dispute claims that the research directly caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci previously defended gain-of-function research when conducted under strict safeguards. In a 2012 paper discussing influenza research, Fauci acknowledged the possibility that laboratory experiments involving dangerous viruses could create serious risks if safety procedures failed.
At the same time, he argued that scientific knowledge gained through such research could outweigh the dangers when experts carefully regulated the work. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth strongly backed the new review and accused the previous administration of hiding information from the public.
“The prior administration bankrolled dangerous Gain-of-Function research and foreign biolabs with American tax dollars, then deliberately hid it from the American people,” Hegseth said in a statement. The intelligence review marks the latest step in the Trump administration’s broader effort to tighten oversight of biological research and increase transparency surrounding U.S.-funded laboratories overseas.
