One month of a government shutdown is in the books, but how many more months will (or can) it go? Congress is paralyzed, but there are a few spasms of activity around healthcare and the prospects of a continuing resolution to punt this fight out until January or later. Oh, and non-shutdown related news is happening too…
Government Shutdown Update
The human and scientific toll of the government shutdown mounts by the hour. The landscape for American science and technology is bleak as ever. From unpaid scientists to shuttered labs to universities negotiating political loyalty tests amidst it all, frustration and confusion have long boiled over into terror as lives are impacted and scientific progress is stunted.
“The Congress is adrift”
That’s according to Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): “It’s like we have given up.” This quote captures what so many in the scientific community are feeling: desolation as the basic machinery of governance and the research ecosystem it underwrites grinds to a halt.
President Trump has described this standoff as an “unprecedented opportunity” to enact sweeping cuts and consolidate executive control over federal spending. He praised Budget Director Russell Vought as “Darth Vader” for his aggressive drive to strip Congress of its appropriations power.
As of this week, federal workers are missing paychecks, agencies are virtually shuttered, and major federal assistance programs will run out of money. We’re looking anxiously at pressure points on the calendar like healthcare open enrollment and historically catalyzing events like Thanksgiving travel. The latter is heavily dependent on the Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) operating with meaningful functionality. Will it be enough to force a deal?
An op-ed in The Hill by Sheril Kirshenbaum, a former Senate staffer, details useful observations on how Congress became so divided. After nearly a decade working in the Senate, her points ring true to me.
Science Agencies in the Shutdown
“A government shutdown threatens to grind America’s science and technology enterprise to a halt,” according to House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Brian Babin.
For scientists, every day lost means missed grant reviews, halted research, and broken continuity. At the National Institutes of Health, new patient admissions at the Clinical Center are paused and new research awards are frozen. The National Science Foundation has suspended proposal evaluations. The Environmental Protection Agency has stopped critical operations like Superfund site operations and states like Ohio are directly impacted. At the FDA, even the “delivery” phase of innovation like with drug and device approvals has slowed to a crawl.
So when will the shutdown end?
“Things are about to get worse,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune warned in a floor speech late last week.The most likely option would be a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government into mid to late January, but that is tenuous at best.
House and Senate GOP leaders are debating a wide range of options for a new CR, given that their current House-passed vehicle (that stands as the quickest path to resolution) funds the government only through November 21st.
Healthcare Enrollment and Cost Increases
November 1st is going to trigger a landslide of consequences that will further impact American daily life. Open enrollment will deliver sticker shock with no agreement on extending subsidies. The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) will start running out of money with no emergency funding relief planned as at least 25 states plan to pause benefits. Early childhood education programs will stop paying teachers and close centers. The Trump Administration tapped military research funds to cover servicemember paychecks and there seem to be plans to keep finding ways to cover that, including with an anonymous donation of $130 million. Congressional staff will also be missing paychecks which ensures that each and every member of Congress is dealing directly with this reality in their own offices.
If we go past November 4th, this will be the longest shutdown in history. Brace yourself.
Higher Ed Politicking
“Compact” Decisions
The White House’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” is offering preferential federal funding for universities that pledge alignment with administration policies. According to Inside Higher Ed, 11 university leaders have publicly opposed the compact. The University of Virginia agreed to a modified version, signing DOJ guidelines that pledge not to “engage in unlawful racial discrimination.”
Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, said the proposal amounted to an “assault … on institutional autonomy, on ideological diversity, on freedom of expression and academic freedom.”
“Ideological Deportation”
Meanwhile, a Reagan-appointed federal judge in Boston ruled that the administration unlawfully targeted international students over pro-Palestinian speech—what he called an act of “ideological deportation.”
Philanthropy Continues Stepping Up
The Arthur M. Blank Foundation pledged $50 million to Atlanta’s historically Black colleges and universities, the biggest gift ever to HBCUs in Georgia.
Indirect Costs
We’ve been tracking The Joint Associations Group on Indirect Costs (JAG) and their proposed solution, the FAIR model, for addressing the important issue of ensuring sufficient reimbursement for the indirect (facility and administrative) costs of research. It received an important endorsement in this editorial by former U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). Learn more about JAG’s efforts and read the letter sent to congressional appropriators.
Science Stateside
Washington is spinning its wheels and states are spinning up plans on science and technology development. Meanwhile, SSTI’s useful analysis of recent NSF data shows how business R&D is becoming even more concentrated among a handful of states. We’ve recapped a few state-level S&T developments that SSTI has highlighted with some additional ones below.
West Virginia
West Virginia’s Vision 2030 calls for “examining best practice financing models in other states and then raising funds to help West Virginia compete for industry and federal research dollars.”
Arizona
Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap welcomes biosciences “new golden era” but “federal research budgets are unstable, early-stage capital is shifting heavily toward artificial intelligence, and public trust in science has weakened.”
California
California’s new quantum strategy law (AB 940) seeks to position the state as a leader in emerging quantum technologies. Governor Newsom also signed several AI safety bills (and vetoed one) that could massively impact AI policies nationwide and even globally.
South Carolina
The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and the state’s Manufacturers Alliance have announced a merger to form the South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce. Their agenda is expected to include reforming the state’s taxes to be more competitive for businesses, increasing access to affordable energy, and ensuring residents have the skills to enter the workforce.
New Mexico
We’re seeing more community action over AI data centers as an advocacy group sued New Mexico’s second most populous county Friday over the approval of a $165 billion AI data center it says violates state law.
Connecticut
The state plans to invest $50.5 million to create public infrastructure and facilities in downtown New Haven to boost the state’s life sciences industry and the emerging sector of quantum technologies. As Gov. Ned Lamont put it, “We’re competing against other states, we’re competing against other countries. And we’ve got to believe in the future.”
Mississippi
Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley had questions for a federal judge in Mississippi after he issued an order that could have been drawn up using artificial intelligence. Sen. Grassley asked them to “explain whether they, their law clerks, or any court staff used generative AI… in preparing their decisions.” This comes as Mississippi recently announced a partnership with NVIDIA to expand AI education, research and workforce development across the state.
What else should we be tracking in states?
Send suggestions to GRuiz@FAS.org to help us highlight important developments at the state level that deserve more attention.
FAS Spotlight: The Fix our Forests Act is evidence-based, bipartisan policy
Even amid shutdown chaos there are reasons for optimism. The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the Fix Our Forests Act (S. 1462), a bipartisan effort long championed by the Federation of American Scientists and a coalition of wildfire experts and advocates. The bill would improve forest management to mitigate and prevent wildfires and protect communities.
“FAS is very pleased to see the Fix Our Forests Act advance out of Committee,” said Hannah Safford of our climate and environment team. “We urge the Senate to act quickly to pass this legislation and ensure that federal agencies have the capacity and resourcing they need to carry out its provisions.”
The bill includes a provision FAS helped shape—the creation of a Wildfire Intelligence Center, a decision-support hub that would integrate science, data, and technology for wildfire resilience. As our Jessica Blackband put it, “Science tells us the wildfire crisis is becoming more urgent. This bill helps government catch up.”
In a month where much of Washington itself feels on fire, this bipartisan progress stands out as a model for how evidence-based policy and collaboration can still find oxygen.
FAS in the Media
The FAS community continues to lead the national conversation on science, data, and democracy. Check out some highlights:
- Daniel Correa talked about FAS and AI policy with Accelerate Science Now.
- Cole Donovan in EOS: Science Agencies Shuttered in Government Shutdown
- Loren DeJonge Schulman in C&E: Scientists brace for impact of US government shutdown
- Denice Ross and Loren DeJonge Schulman talking UNGA, Advise & Consent, Democratic Data on Sirens
- Hannah Stafford in a NYT Letter to the Editor regarding wildfire smoke and FOFA
- Denice Ross on Crooked Media’s What a Day discussing disappearing data
- Merici Vinton in the NYT: What Was Lost: Former Federal Workers on the Cost of the Cuts
- Grace Wickerson on 10 Across, Extreme Heat Has Only Just Begun: How Prepared is the U.S.?
- Jon Wolfsthal in Arms Control Center, Getting Off the Collision Course: The Case Against Arms Racing
- Megan Husted and Alice Wu, The Little Monopoly Holding Back the Clean Energy Transition
And on social media: Mackenzie Knight-Boyle shares a FAS history throwback, the first in an upcoming series of visits into FAS’s storied past for our 80th Anniversary.
That’s it for now!
The days ahead will test the resilience of every scientist, policymaker, and civil servant working without pay or clarity. They will also, however, reaffirm the purpose of nonpartisan institutions like FAS to keep science and evidence alive in the public interest no matter the political atmosphere.
Hang in there, thanks for reading, and keep sending feedback and suggestions to GRuiz@FAS.org.
One month of a government shutdown is in the books, but how many more months will (or can) it go? Congress is paralyzed, but there are a few spasms of activity around healthcare and the prospects of a continuing resolution to punt this fight out until January or later.
At a period where the federal government is undergoing significant changes in how it hires, buys, collects and organizes data, and delivers, deeper exploration of trust in these facets as worthwhile.
Moving postsecondary education data collection to the states is the best way to ensure that the U.S. Department of Education can meet its legislative mandates in an era of constrained federal resources.
Supporting children’s development through health, nutrition, education, and protection programs helps the U.S. achieve its national security and economic interests, including the Administration’s priorities to make America “safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”