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| What’s Ahead |
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| Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks with reporters about negotiations to lift the federal debt limit. (Image credit – Office of Speaker McCarthy) |
Debt Limit Deal Sets Up Stagnant Funding for Science
Republicans and Democrats are lining up votes in Congress this week to pass an agreement that President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) forged over the weekend to lift the national debt limit and cap federal spending. If enacted, the agreement will hold the federal non-defense discretionary budget essentially flat in fiscal year 2024 and limit it to a 1% increase in fiscal year 2025, and the debt limit will be taken out of play until sometime in 2025. Since most science programs are funded through discretionary spending, the agreement means any increases they receive will generally have to be paid for with cuts elsewhere. For that reason, appropriations likely will fall well behind the budget targets set out in last year’s CHIPS and Science Act and any increases would be focused on the highest-priority programs and projects. The agreement does not affect the multiyear funding already appropriated through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the semiconductor provisions of the CHIPS and Science Act.
Biden administration officials are arguing that the outcome is probably similar to what Republicans and Democrats would have negotiated to finalize fiscal year 2024 appropriations later this year. Notably, the two years of caps set by the agreement are much less than the decade of caps put in place following a debt-limit standoff early in the Obama administration, meaning the next presidential election will have more direct implications for the future direction of spending than the 2012 election did. In the near term, the agreement means appropriators will have firm guidelines to follow when formulating their fiscal year 2024 spending proposals, and the drafts they release in the coming weeks will give a stronger indication of final outcomes than those released during the past two budget cycles, for which spending limits were not agreed on until late in negotiations. Because disagreements on overarching spending levels are typically among the main impediments to finalizing spending legislation, the agreement may also expedite enactment of fiscal year 2024 budgets.
OSTP and NSF Hosting Listening Sessions on Open Science
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is kicking off a series of webinars this week to collect input from early-career researchers on opportunities and challenges associated with advancing open-science practices. The series is part of the White House’s Year of Open Science and follows OSTP’s directive last year generally requiring articles and data resulting from federally funded research to be made freely available upon publication. All federal agencies are required to implement the policy by the end of 2025. The National Science Foundation is holding its own series of listening sessions as it prepares to implement the policy. One on Friday will focus on research supported by its STEM education and social sciences directorates, which follows a session in April focused on its physical sciences and technology directorates. NSF intends to publish its new public-access policy by the end of 2024 and will post recordings of the listening sessions to its public-access website. Among other agencies, NASA and the National Institutes of Health have already published updated access plans in response to the OSTP directive and opened them for public comment. NASA’s chief science data officer will discuss that agency’s efforts to foster open-science practices on Wednesday as part of a two-day meeting of the NASA Advisory Council’s Science Committee.
NASA Finalizing Study on ‘Anomalous’ Objects
A team appointed by NASA to study unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) is holding a public meeting on Wednesday as it prepares to publish its conclusions this summer. UAP is the Department of Defense’s term for sightings that appear to be vehicles exhibiting improbable behaviors. The NASA study is chaired by astrophysicist David Spergel and is focused on developing ways to study UAP using scientific methods rather than resolving past encounters. Interest in UAPs spiked in 2020 when DOD confirmed the legitimacy of three Navy videos of unidentified objects that had previously leaked to the public. DOD has since created an “All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office” to study unidentified aerial, undersea, and space-based objects. The office’s director, physicist Sean Kirkpatrick, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in April that it “has found no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology, or objects that defy the known laws of physics.”
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| In Case You Missed It |
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| Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm visited Idaho National Lab last week to announce an initiative focused on developing more sustainable fuels and chemicals. (Image credit – DOE) |
Latest DOE ‘EarthShot’ Targets Clean Fuels and Products
The Department of Energy launched a “Clean Fuels and Products Shot” last week focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the fuel and chemical industry, the seventh in its series of Energy Earthshots. The initiative aims to reduce emissions by 85% compared to fossil-based sources by 2035 and to develop sustainable zero-emissions technologies that can meet 50% of the projected demand for maritime, rail, and off-road fuels and carbon-based chemicals by 2050, as well as 100% of the projected demand for aviation fuel. Energy Secretary Granholm announced the initiative at Idaho National Laboratory, where she also celebrated the completion of upgrades to the Biomass Feedstock National User Facility, which will contribute to the new Earthshot by accelerating the development and commercialization of biofuels and bioproducts.
DOE Cancels Embattled Microvast Grant
The Department of Energy informed Congress last week that it has reversed plans to award a $200 million grant to the battery company Microvast that would have supported construction of a new component manufacturing facility in Kentucky to supply one of the company’s existing factories in Tennessee. The grant was part of a $2.8 billion set DOE announced last November as part of its implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, but Republicans in both the House and Senate quickly criticized the award, observing that the bulk of Microvast’s operations are in China. While they argued Microvast’s dealings with the Chinese government presented a security risk, pointing to the company’s disclosures to investors on the subject, DOE maintained the grant would help the company shift its business to the U.S. The department has not offered a specific reason for canceling the grant, but it did so as Republicans on multiple committees continued to press the matter. Following DOE’s move, House Science Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) wrote in a statement that he remains concerned about the department’s processes for vetting grant recipients and the quality of its responses to congressional inquiries. Meanwhile, Microvast stated it is “considering all of its options,” insisting it is not under the “control or influence” of the Chinese government.
Barrasso Pressing DOE to Restrict China Ties, Expand Polygraphs
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced a pair of bills this month that respectively would prohibit the Department of Energy from funding companies with certain ties to China and require DOE to administer polygraphs to prospective and current national lab employees who are citizens of China and not U.S. permanent residents. Barrasso is among the leading critics of DOE’s now-canceled grant to the battery company Microvast on account of its connections to China, and more broadly he has pressed the department to expand its research security policies. The prohibition on funding China-linked companies would apply to any entity that is a joint venture with state-owned enterprises in China or whose board of directors includes participants in a foreign talent recruitment program administered by the Chinese government. The polygraph requirement would also apply to other designated “countries of concern,” which include Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Barrasso is currently the sole sponsor of both bills.
LIGO Back in Action
Last week, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) officially began its fourth run of science operations, known as O4, following an upgrade that increased its sensitivity by 30%. LIGO leaders expect its twin detectors will now observe a merger of black holes or neutron stars every two or three days, and they may have detected the merger of a black hole and a neutron star during startup operations before even commencing O4. The facility had been offline since March 2020, when it concluded its third run about a month early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Italian Virgo detector was expected to return to operations alongside LIGO, but technical problems during an upgrade have delayed its start by several months. Japan’s KAGRA detector, which became operational just before LIGO shut down, will join the new run for a month before shutting down for further commissioning and it hopes to rejoin O4 before its conclusion about 20 months from now. Running at least three detectors simultaneously can help locate the sources of gravitational-wave events, allowing observatories to search for electromagnetic or neutrino signatures if the event is of a type that produces them.
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| Events This Week |
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All times are Eastern Daylight Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, May 29
Memorial Day holiday
Tuesday, May 30
Wednesday, May 31
Thursday, June 1
Friday, June 2
Monday, June 5
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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| Opportunities |
OSTP Seeking Input on National AI Strategy
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is seeking public input to inform a forthcoming National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. The office is specifically interested in policies and procedures that could minimize the risks of AI, as well its potential impacts on innovation, national security, the economy, and civil rights. Comments are due July 7.
NASA Seeking Input on New Demographic Data Collection Process
NASA is seeking input on a new procedure for collecting data on the demographics of its grant applicants, which the agency uses to identify and address inequities associated with its grant review and awards processes. Applicants provide data on a voluntary basis when they submit their proposals, and NASA is particularly interested in ways to reduce the burden of submission and enhance the quality of the data. Comments are due June 26.
DOE Hiring Energy Justice Fellows
The Department of Energy is seeking science policy fellows to join the Office of Energy Justice Policy and Analysis, which coordinates the Justice40 initiative and other equity-focused efforts across the department. Candidates must have technical experience in an energy technology field and knowledge of environmental and energy justice issues.
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