Today’s cover image is brought to you by “The PTA Disbands”, a 30 year old episode of The Simpsons. This older millennial has now turned to dust.
Onto this week’s news, which includes an update on the Federal appropriation’s process, ghastly new proposals out of HHS, a new initiative out of NSF, and another raft of executive orders.
The appropriations process continues to move ahead slowly. The government is currently funded through the end of January.
The President signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday. The AAU has a nice summary of what this means for the research enterprise.
Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, announced on social media this week that the NSF will dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). It appears that this announcement may have caused the collapse of a potential deal to fund 90 percent of the government (including HHS) through September.
Congress is now on recess through the new year.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed several rules on Thursday which would block any hospital or clinic that offers gender-affirming care for trans minors from receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds.
Here is the press release from HHS that includes additional actions the agency is taking in this area.
On Wednesday, the House passed a bill to ban gender affirming care for minors. That bill appears unlikely to pass in the Senate.
Some vaccine news out of HHS:
Stat and others are reporting on the CDC funding a placebo-controlled trial of the hepatitis B vaccine in newborns in Guinea-Bissau.
HHS Director RFK Jr. has accepted ACIP’s recommendation to rollback the universal recommendation to start hepatitis B immunization at birth.
There is also some reporting that HHS will be proposing substantial changes to the pediatric vaccine schedule in the new year. No word on if adopting Denmark’s vaccine schedule means we can also adopt their model of universal healthcare and comprehensive social services.
The National Science Foundation is seeking feedback on a new “Tech Labs” initiative which “will support full-time teams of researchers, scientists, and engineers who will enjoy operational autonomy and milestone-based funding as they pursue technical breakthroughs that have the potential to reshape or create entire technology sectors.”
NIH is seeking feedback on a proposed policy for controlled access data. I believe this policy applies only to identifiable data from human subjects.
In response to recent events, the Administration has indefinitely paused the Diversity Visa Program (DV1), a lottery for visas for individuals from countries with low levels of immigration to the US. This Administration also expanded its travel ban this week.
Science is reporting that Senator Rand Paul has asked the journal to provide his office with all COVID-19-related manuscripts, including unpublished ones; peer-reviewer comments and details of editorial decisions; and any coronavirus-related emails to and from certain groups and scientists, including Anthony Fauci.
Stat has a report on data from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that funding rates for early career researchers across NIH dropped from 26% in 2024 to 18.5% in 2025.
As expected, the Administration has appealed the court decision which restored $2.7 billion in funding to Harvard.
The president signed a number of executive orders this week, including one to increase medical marijuana and cannabinol research and another to strengthen the U.S.’s space programs.
Among the year end wrap ups is Nature’s collection of the best science images of the year. They also provide a list of seven feel good stories for the year. I wonder if the tattooed tardigrade’s parents also worried that their tattoos would restrict their future job prospects…
And, just for fun, one more ancient Simpsons clip.