Outlook for Science in the 118^th Congress

January 13, 2023

Speakership

After a historic number of attempts (15!) and considerable drama, on January 7th, House Republicans elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to be Speaker of the House. Speaker McCarthy made a long list of concessions in order to get the votes he needed, including an agreement to cap future budgets at FY22 levels, addressing the debt ceiling (we could hit in July), promises on committee assignments, open amendments, reinstatement of Holman’s rule, and a process

White House Announces Alliance to Advance STEMM Equity

January 13, 2023

At a stakeholder summit on December 12, the White House launched the STEMM Opportunity Alliance, a consortium of almost 100 institutions that will work to address barriers and promote equitable participation in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM).

The initiative will coordinate over $1 billion of promised public and private spending, focusing on five “equity and excellence” action areas: promoting science literacy and

Fiscal Year 23 Budget Includes Increases for Science

January 13, 2023

FABBS commends the House and Senate for coming together and passing the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. The overdue omnibus provides 10.3 percent increase in R&D funding over FY 2022 including for federal agencies supporting behavioral and brain sciences: Institute of Education Sciences (IES), National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The President signed the omnibus

Biden Signs New Pandemic Preparedness Memo

October 27, 2022

On October 18, President Biden signed a national security memorandum intended to prepare the U.S. to detect, respond to, and mitigate the consequences of the next large-scale viral or biological threat. The memo is addressed to 20 federal agencies, with the National Science Foundation notably missing from the list. The memo directs agencies to prioritize biodefense and pandemic preparedness and provide further research and development of tools that would help expand the