@commandlinekid @Richard My guess is that it was just not relevant for the longest time, since it's a health institute, and international cooperation on such things is a very recent development.

Another possibility is that the Trump faction is attacking the NIH that is filled with globo-homo subversives.

As the old saying goes:
"To my friends, everything; to my enemies, the law."
The law was already there for decades, now someone is making sure it's enforced.
Another landmine placed at the feet of the NIH staff.