After the relative quiet of last week, we’re back with an update on the federal budget, news out of the Department of the Treasury (?) and Homeland Security (??), an interagency agreement between the Department of Defense and NIAID, and lots more.
The next installment in the “In Context” series, which attempts to contextualize what’s going on, will post next week.
Science is labor. Enjoy the long weekend!
Federal Research Policy
On Wednesday, the President signed the continuing resolution passed by the House and Senate. As a result, the federal government is now funded until December 11th. The CR includes language which freezes the Office of Management and Budget’s proposed changes to the federal grant-making process until December.
Representative.Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn) put out a statement this week stating that the Department of Defense/War has signed an interagency agreement to receive funds from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Nature and the New York Times have coverage. The budget of NIAID is around 5% of that of the DOD.
The NIH issued a request for information last week, seeking input on a new policy that would establish a requirement for researchers and institutions to share summary level study results with clinical research participants.
NSF released the solicitation for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) last week. Science has a report on how the change in scope for the program reflects NSF’s move to eliminate its Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate.
Dr. Wendy Weber has been announced as the new director for theNational Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). She has been in the role as acting director since last October. Dr. Peter Embí has been announced as the new director of the National Library of Medicine, replacing interim director Dr. Stephen Sherry.
It looks like there’s been another raft of grant terminations, this time at the HHS Office of Minority Health. Click through that link to read what the Office is apparently emphasizing moving forward.
Education
The Treasury Department released a set of proposed rules on Thursday which would deny tax exempt status to any schools (including universities) that have any programs or policies that the IRS judges to be racially discriminatory. The rules, if passed, would go into effect for fiscal years starting after May 31, 2027. The NYT has coverage.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed a new rule which would, if codified, charge a $103,265 fee for H1-B visas. Unlike the original proposal, this rule would not apply to universities, hospitals and research-based institutions
Other News
The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached an agreement with Mount Sinai Health System to end pediatric gender affirming care. The terms of the settlement are… something.
The state of California will vote on a pair of bills to fund scientific research in the state. Science has a nice summary.
This fall, the ballot will include Proposition 38, which asks voters to approve $8.4 billion in state bonds to fund immunology and immunotherapy research. Half of that would go to a nonprofit entity affiliated with the University of California system, the other half would be allocated Bia a competitive, peer-reviewed process.
In March 2028, the ballot for the state’s presidential primary will include SB-895, which would allocate $7.5 billion to create a state foundation for science and health research.
The 2026 Ig Nobel prizes were announced this week. Due to - waves hands around at the last year+ of these updates - the ceremony was held outside of the United States for the first time.