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What’s Ahead
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| (Image credit – National Park Service) |
Spending Legislation at Forefront of Congress’ Fall Agenda
Lawmakers will soon return to Washington, D.C., following their summer recess, and fall promises to be a busy legislative season as usual. Appropriations are a high priority as fiscal year 2020 will begin on Oct. 1. The two-year budget deal reached in July should ease the way to finalizing spending proposals. With the statutory budget caps for the coming fiscal year now increased, many science programs are in line to receive funding boosts, though probably not so large as the ones proposed in the House this spring. There is a chance some agencies will receive an on-time appropriation as happened last year, but given there is less than a month left to complete the appropriations process, Congress will likely resort to stopgap measures to keep others open. Aside from science agency budget outcomes, one outstanding issue is whether the Senate will assent to the House’s proposal to revive Congress’ Office of Technology Assessment, which has been defunded since 1995.
Defense and Energy R&D Policy Bills Also in the Queue
Congress is also expected to convene a conference committee soon to reconcile the House’s and Senate’s respective proposals for this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. Lawmakers have successfully passed the annual update to national defense policy 57 years in a row, but this year’s negotiations could be difficult due to partisan disputes over several issues, including whether to block the deployment of new low-yield nuclear warheads. As usual, numerous R&D-related provisions are up for inclusion in the final bill. Other issues to watch include what sorts of climate change policies Congress will require the Department of Defense to implement and whether the department will be directed to maintain a contract for the JASON science advisory group. Looking to the longer term, committees in the House and Senate are continuing to develop broad energy R&D legislation. Key Republicans in the Senate have cast energy innovation as a response to climate change, and the idea has gained backing from some conservative-leaning organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. However, it remains to be seen whether the push will yield concrete commitments to long-term R&D spending increases or result in more modest policy changes.
Arctic Futures Conference Tracing Policy to 2050
Arctic scientists and Indigenous leaders are convening in Washington, D.C., this week for a conference that aims to identify ways of making scientific findings and Indigenous knowledge actionable for policymakers. Called Arctic Futures 2050, the program features sessions focused on the implications of expected climate change in the region and emerging research priorities. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a vocal advocate for Arctic research who has been outspoken about the negative impacts of climate change on the region, will offer video remarks. Also participating in the conference is John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Obama, who has been active on Arctic policy since leaving the White House.
Defense Conference to Contemplate Future Warfare
DefenseNews is convening federal defense officials and national security experts on Wednesday for its third annual conference, organized around the theme, “Future Warfare and the Modern Balance of Power.” Sessions include panel discussions of the Army’s new Futures Command and the state of the nuclear triad. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Director Steven Walker and Defense Innovation Unit Director of Strategic Engagement Mike Madsen are participating in a panel on recent efforts to build a stronger relationship between the Pentagon and Silicon Valley. Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Mike Griffin will deliver a keynote address.
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In Case You Missed It
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| The Eisenhower Executive Office Building houses the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, whose director co-authors the administration’s annual R&D budget priorities memorandum. (Image credit – The White House) |
White House Releases Annual R&D Priorities Memo
The White House issued its latest R&D priorities memorandum last week, providing guidance to federal agencies as they prepare their budget request submissions for fiscal year 2021. Many of the priority areas are the same as those in last year’s memo, including AI and machine learning, quantum information science, hypersonics, biomedical innovations, and space exploration and commercialization. With Kelvin Droegemeier now at the helm of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the latest memo elaborates on several of these areas and places them in a broader framework that echoes his emphasis on “American values.” Ocean exploration and Earth system predictability are two new priority areas identified in the memo, with the latter described as critical for guiding federal investments and understanding predictability across timescales “from individual thunderstorms to long-term global change.” Though the memo does not refer directly to climate change, when asked about the topic Droegemeier has often pointed to opportunities to improve the robustness of model projections.
Concept Studies for Flagship Space Telescopes Unveiled
The teams that NASA charged more than three years ago with developing four flagship space telescope concepts have completed their work and their final reports were released to the public last week. The in-progress decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics will consider the reports as it prepares recommendations that will guide NASA’s investments over the next 10 years. Each of the concepts includes design variations that are intended to inform potential scoping decisions in response to different budget scenarios. Each variation is accompanied by an independently reviewed projected lifecycle cost range and development schedule. The reports also expansively detail the scientific questions each concept is tailored to address. NASA has emphasized it wants the decadal survey to present an “ambitious” vision, but it is up to the survey committee to decide how to use the reports. Of the four concepts, the most powerful and versatile is the Large Ultraviolet/Optical/Infrared (LUVOIR) Surveyor, which would launch in 2039, according to its report. The telescope would cost between $8 billion and $16 billion in fiscal year 2020 dollars, depending on the choice of design and the cost estimation method used, and assuming an early commitment by NASA to developing the required technologies. The other three concepts are the Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx), Origins Space Telescope, and Lynx X-ray Observatory.
WFIRST Passes Preliminary Design Review
NASA announced on Aug. 28 that the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) has passed its preliminary design review. The milestone affirms the flagship telescope’s basic design meets requirements and that the project is within its budget and schedule goals. NASA has been keeping close tabs on WFIRST to avoid the cost growth that afflicted the James Webb Space Telescope early in its development. The mission will now proceed into its advanced design phase, which concludes with a critical design review that will establish a firm baseline cost and schedule. Although WFIRST was the top-ranked recommendation for space-based astronomy projects in the 2010 astronomy and astrophysics decadal survey, the Trump administration has proposed canceling the mission to free up funding for other priorities. Congress must provide more than $500 million to WFIRST in fiscal year 2020 to keep the project on track for launch in the mid-2020s and within its congressionally mandated $3.2 billion cost cap.
Congress Urged to Drop Europa Clipper Rocket Requirement
NASA’s Office of Inspector General has called on Congress to drop a statutory requirement that the agency launch the Europa Clipper mission using the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket in 2023. In a letter sent to Senate appropriations committee leaders last week, the office cites timing and costs concerns, emphasizing that an SLS rocket will be unavailable until at least 2025 because of development delays and the anticipated allocation of the first three SLS launches to NASA’s new Artemis lunar program. The office also states the Clipper would need to be stored for at least two years at a cost of cost $3 million to $5 million per month until an SLS is available for launch. As an alternative, the letter notes that a commercial rocket would cost about one-third of an SLS rocket and could be ready for launch by 2023, though it would entail a longer transit time to Europa. Earlier this year, the office released an audit detailing challenges NASA will face in meeting a 2023 launch date, but it does not request a schedule change in its letter. It does state that to meet that date, NASA would have to begin the procurement process for a commercial rocket within a “few months.”
Columbia University President Rebukes FBI on Research Security
In an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Aug. 30, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger rejected what he referred to as calls from the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies to “develop more robust protocols for monitoring foreign-born students and visiting scholars — particularly if they are ethnically Chinese.” FBI Director Christopher Wray began publicly asserting a year and a half ago that the Chinese government systematically exploits U.S.-based research through both illicit and licit means, including by using scientists, students, and others as “non-traditional collectors” of information. Since then, FBI officials and some congressional lawmakers have worked to raise awareness of the issue among university leaders. While Bollinger acknowledged the need to enforce and bolster protocols aimed at protecting proprietary and sensitive national security research, he insisted that “only a fraction of the research conducted on campus is ‘secret,’” and that the rest is supposed to be shared widely. Rather than become an “arm of U.S. law enforcement,” he argued, universities should maintain their openness and be welcoming to everyone regardless of nationality or country of origin. “Ironically, what the FBI apparently considers our great vulnerability is, in my view, our greatest strength,” he wrote. Bollinger is the latest of a number of U.S. university presidents to weigh in on the situation.
$1.3 Billion Infusion Recommended for NIH Facilities
A congressionally mandated report released last week by the National Academies concludes that the National Institutes of Health’s campus in Bethesda, Maryland, should receive a $1.3 billion infusion to address “deteriorating conditions” at many of its facilities and will require additional funds in the future to avoid “yet another buildup of deferred maintenance.” The report recommends that Congress address the maintenance backlog in two stages, first funding $700 million in already identified infrastructure improvements “as soon as possible”, followed by a second tranche of $600 million based on the campus’ Master Plan and a reassessment of its facility priorities. In recent years, NIH has received multi-billion dollar budget increases, with the fiscal year 2019 appropriations for the agency providing $200 million for its buildings and facilities budget line, up from a 10-year average of about $100 million. However, the report notes this elevated level of spending is nonetheless “wholly inadequate to reduce the previous years’ backlog.”
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Events This Week
All times are Eastern Daylight Time and all congressional hearings are webcast, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, September 2
Labor Day holiday.
Tuesday, September 3
Wednesday, September 4
Thursday, September 5
Friday, September 6
Monday, September 9
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Opportunities Atmospheric Sciences Board Seeking Members
The National Academies is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on its Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, which provides independent advice to the federal government. The board is currently seeking five new members to serve for three-year terms. Nominations must be submitted by Sept. 20.
Jefferson Science Fellows Application Open
The National Academies is accepting applications for its Jefferson Science Fellows program, which places scientists in the State Department or U.S. Agency for International Development for one year. Applicants must be senior faculty from U.S. higher education institutions who are U.S. citizens. Applications are due Oct. 31.
Potomac Institute Hiring S&T Policy Interns
The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is seeking applicants for its spring semester S&T policy internship program. Applicants should have an interest in science and public policy, relevant research experience, and university coursework in a related field. Interns are unpaid, but can receive course credit for completion of the program. Applications are due Nov. 22.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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