Progress and Uncertainty in the Federal Budget Process
June 27, 2019
As we approach the July 4 recess, the House continues to make progress on appropriations bills while the Senate continues to contemplate top line numbers and the White House floats the idea of a one-year continuing resolution at FY 2019 budget levels.
Earlier this month, and after lengthy discussion on possible amendments, the House passed the first four-bill “minibus” spending package (H.R. 2740) that included both the National Institutes of Health and the Institute of
read moreWhite House Proposes Terminating Federal Advisory Committees
June 27, 2019
On June 14, the President released an Executive Order on Evaluating and Improving the Utility of Federal Advisory Committees. The order has been met with a combination of confusion and concern from the scientific community.
The proposal to evaluate the usefulness of current advisory committees is a reasonable one. However, the Executive Order states specific numbers and cuts, and provides no justification. Namely, agencies are ordered to ‘terminate at least one-third’
read moreCongress Examines Foreign Influences in Taxpayer Funded Research
June 27, 2019
The issue of foreign influence in taxpayer-funded research has been a growing concern in Washington, DC in recent years. On June 5, the Senate Finance Committee convened a hearing, “Foreign Threats to Taxpayer-Funded Research: Oversight Opportunities and Policy Solutions” to better understand the risks and consider possible solutions. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) raised this issue last fall in a letter to the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
In
read moreHouse Considering First Minibus – Includes Funding for NIH and IES
June 13, 2019
On Wednesday, June 12, the House of Representatives began consideration of H.R. 2740, a bill to fund the National Institutes of Health and the Institute of Education Sciences, agencies important to behavioral and brain scientists. House deliberations are expected to continue into next week and to include a combination of delay tactics, grand standing, and shenanigans.
In a strategy that worked last year to complete budgets before the end of the fiscal year, appropriators
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