Gil’s Corner: A View from D.C. on Science and Tech Policy, Politics, and Power
We’re back with key updates from D.C.! Start with the weather which was as lovely as I can remember in the last decade, even if the landscape was dotted with more flashing lights and armored trucks than usual.
D.C. takes the cue from Congress and the city itself seems to recess and take its foot off the gas for those with government-related work. I hope everyone recharged sufficiently, because the break is over and there is much to do this fall – government funding, new and massive executive orders, and a whole lot of drama in between awaits us.
Executive Order on Federal Grantmaking
Political Appointees have the Power. The White House announced an Executive Order that would restructure the federal grantmaking process and affect how decisions are made regarding the distribution of billions of dollars in research grants. Now, all final grant award decisions across all agencies are to be made by political appointees, subject to their “independent judgment.”
Learn what this could mean for you from McDermott Will & Schulte.
Appropriations and an Uneasy Fiscal New Year’s Eve
Will we shut down? Congress will get right back to the arduous task of sorting out government funding for Fiscal Year 26 (FY26). We saw lots of progress on several of the 12 bills that constitute the government funding package. Even with a little dissent, Democrats and Republican appropriators alike are expressing a desire to pass the package by September 30 and avoid a dramatic shutdown fight.
Spending Problems. There is a lot of time between now and then, however, and discord is brewing as significant concerns around how the Administration is using (and most importantly not using) funding that Congress has appropriated could have a major impact on whether a final bill is passed.
OMB Releases Funds, Now they Must be Spent. OMB has apparently released its hold on much of the FY25 funding for NIH, NSF, and other research agencies it had blocked in recent months. It is of utmost urgency to ensure those funds are obligated before Sept 30, 2025 (otherwise the funds get returned to the Treasury).
➡️ Those awaiting to receive grants can most effectively ensure this by reaching out to their congressional delegations to ask for assistance in securing release of the research funding.
Confirmations Deal. Majority Leader Thune (R-SD), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the White House have been negotiating over an agreement that would trade Democrats’ consent to speed up Trump’s appointee confirmations in exchange for the administration agreeing to unfreeze funding for certain agencies or other policy concessions. This could continue to have a part to play in any final deal.
Tracker. Keep tabs on appropriations with the AAAS Tracker, including updates from the end of July.
Higher Ed
Admissions Transparency. President Trump issued the latest presidential memorandum regarding his oversight of higher education, titled “Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions” (fact sheet). According to the memo, the Supreme Court has “definitively held that consideration of race in higher education admissions violates students rights” but a “persistent lack of available data” combined with “overt and hidden racial proxies” caused further “concerns about whether race is actually used in process.” Check out a breakdown.
The U.S. Dept. of Justice released guidance for recipients of federal funding regarding unlawful discrimination. Explainer and more reading here.
Research Security. The National Science Foundation announced a new SECURE Center with a newsletter that covers changes in federal research security policies and aggregates news articles. Sign up to track this ever-evolving space.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it has fired 70 foreign contract researchers after a national security review intended to secure the U.S. food supply from adversaries including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
Settlements. What does the Columbia University settlement mean for the rest of higher education? Will Creeley, legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said that, in addition to admission practices, this settlement and its “blatant disregard for federal law” will upend academia’s core commitment to fostering First Amendment rights.
What do we do? A plea from former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan – The Only Hope Is Total and Unrelenting Resistance
Science and Tech
AI Action Plan. FAS’s brilliant AI team at the Federation of American Scientists unpack the AI Action Plan. Importantly, it notes that, “Despite the AI Action Plan’s ambitious proposals, it will remain aspirational without funding, proper staffing, and clear timelines.”
States’ Role. An interesting read from The Atlantic on university research and states. “It will take time for research universities to find a new long-term financial model that allows science and medicine to continue advancing—a model much less dependent on the federal government. But right now universities don’t have time.”
Manufacturing. Manufacturing is the third largest contributor to American GDP. What’s the status? SSTI takes a county-specific look.
USDA Reorganization
USDA out of DC. The US Department of Agriculture is getting an unprecedented makeover as Secretary Rollins aims to decentralize its operations across the country. That includes functions beyond agriculture such as important rural development offices and programs like wildfire management and more.
Indirect Costs
Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier and the Joint Association Group (JAG) have developed an impressive reimagining on Indirect Cost modeling, dubbed the Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) Model. Find the details here, and familiarize yourself! For you visual learners, check out their webinar.
According to JAG, the Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) model is a new approach to increase transparency, accountability, and clarity in how federal research funding is spent. The goal of FAIR is to ensure continued American leadership globally in research and innovation while delivering maximum benefit to American taxpayers. FAIR was developed with extensive input and feedback from a broad array of public and private research institutions, academic medical centers, independent research institutes, hospitals, private foundations, and private companies
The complete upheaval around indirect costs policies from the Administration has many research institutions on red alert. The thoughtful, comprehensive response from JAG has been presented to the Administration and Congress, even seeing language included in the current appropriations bills.
JAG is calling for support from the research community around the FAIR model – the future of the American research enterprise could be at risk without unity and vocal endorsement to the government.
We Need to Talk about Impoundment
Ok, I’ll bite, what is impoundment?
Our friends at the Center for Budget Policy and Priorities are schooling us, and other smart budget teams, like at the Bipartisan Policy Center, are doing excellent work schooling us on this urgent, developing issue. Please do go learn more because this is not going away and it is truly as big a deal as it sounds.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought is the name on the lips of many in DC this month as the end of the fiscal year approaches and his relentless plan to hack and disrupt the government funding process hits full tilt, and, as some argue, goes beyond the law.
Deferrals, additional approvals, apportionment hold ups – these are all wonky budget actions that are being weaponized for the Executive Branch to effectively “impound” government funding approved by Congress. That’s illegal.
Slow-rolling Spending – is it Impoundment?
GAO thinks so. On top of the significant issues with receiving their funding in the first place or even getting it clawed back by rescissions, many agencies are facing bureaucratic roadblocks to spending the funding they do have and risk ending the fiscal year (9/30) with unspent funds.
“The administration appears to be preparing to run the clock out. To me, it’s clearly a violation of Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution. It’s fundamental to the way the government is supposed to operate.”- G. William Hoagland of the Bipartisan Policy Center and former Republican aide to the Senate Budget Committee.
“It feels like temporary impoundment,” an Army Corps of Engineers employee said.
What does the Administration have to say?
Rachel Cauley, a spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement that, “impoundments remain an option at the president’s disposal.”
If all of this does indeed amount to illegal impoundment then do not expect that to deter the Administration. In response to GAO challenging this practice (and its done so dozens of times), Russel Vought argued that the Impoundment Control Act, the law at issue now, is unconstitutional.
Until Next Time!
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