Science policy this week: April 28, 2025

What’s Ahead

A composite image of the NSF website and X posts as well as a crowdsourced database collecting grant terminations. — Composite image of the NSF website and X posts as well as a crowdsourced database collecting grant terminations.

FYI

More grant terminations, deferred resignation offers at NSF

The National Science Foundation announced a second round of grant terminations last Friday, stating the decision reflected the agency’s “commitment to funding research opportunities for all Americans everywhere.” The first round came a week earlier, eliminating over 400 active grants, according to the Department of Government Efficiency. A crowdsourced database of NSF grant terminations over the last two weeks currently includes over 500 grants, the largest share of which falls under the STEM Education directorate. Members of the union representing NSF issued an open letter to scientific societies asking them to mobilize their members to reach out to local media outlets, contact their members of Congress, post on social media, and more “to mitigate the unfolding crisis and the threat to the long-term viability of NSF.”

NSF also re-offered deferred resignation plans to its employees following the resignation of agency director Sethuraman Panchanathan last Thursday. Employees must apply by the end of the day on May 8, and those who do will be placed on administrative leave by May 23. The memo, reviewed by FYI, “encourages” all NSF employees to consider accepting the deferred resignation agreement “in light of future restructuring, staffing reductions, and constrained budget environments.” It adds that reduced leadership positions, “standardization across directorates and increased centralization,” and the possibility of “significant workforce reductions” are expected in the coming months.

DOD reconciliation bill includes billions of dollars for Golden Dome and NNSA

Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have released their plan for $150 billion in additional defense spending to be added to the fiscal year 2025 budget through reconciliation. The bill includes the following appropriations, among others:

Nearly $25 billion for projects related to President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative, including $250 million for directed energy research, $5.6 billion for developing space-based missile interceptors, and $7.2 billion for developing space-based sensors.
$3.24 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, including $1 billion for facility construction and $540 million for deferred facility maintenance.
Over $1 billion for AI research and efforts to deploy AI in existing DOD systems. These include $250 million for “the advancement of the AI ecosystem,” $250 million for Cyber Command’s AI programs, $124 million for improvements to the Test Resource Management Center’s AI capabilities, and $200 million for the development of automation and AI systems to audit DOD financial statements.
$250 million for the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative.
$120 million for the development of small modular reactors.

The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to vote on the bill tomorrow. If it passes, it is expected to be rolled into the larger budget reconciliation package that Republicans hope to use to pass major parts of their agenda without the threat of a Senate filibuster.

Senate to vote on NASA administrator and hold S&T nomination hearings

The Senate will hold hearings this week on several of Trump’s nominees for S&T positions. The Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will vote Wednesday on whether to advance Jared Isaacman’s nomination to lead NASA. Isaacman appeared before the committee on April 9 and expressed support for more flagship science missions. In written answers to questions from the committee last week, Isaacman called the Trump administration’s planned cuts to NASA not “an optimal outcome.” The committee will also hold a nomination hearing Thursday for Paul Dabbar to be the deputy secretary of commerce. Dabbar served as the undersecretary for science at the Department of Energy during the first Trump administration.

On Wednesday, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a nomination hearing for Andrea Travnicek to be the assistant secretary of the interior for water and science and Theodore Garrish to lead the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. Also on Wednesday, the Foreign Relations Committee will vote on the nomination of Thomas DiNanno to be under secretary of state for arms control and international security. DiNanno served as the deputy assistant secretary of state for arms control during the first Trump administration.

State Department faces major reorganization

A sweeping reorganization at the State Department appears to eliminate the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary, FedScoop reports. Over 100 offices and 700 positions have been earmarked for elimination, including roles covering global climate policy. Social media posts indicate that staff working on international science and technology cooperation at the State Department may also be facing layoffs. In a statement on April 22, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his comprehensive reorganization plan would consolidate region-specific offices, remove redundant offices, and eliminate non-statutory programs that are “misaligned with America’s core national interests.”

Also on our radar

The Trump administration released two higher education executive orders last Wednesday. The first pledges to increase enforcement of foreign funding disclosure requirements for US universities. The second establishes an initiative to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities by, for example, collaborating with agencies to help HBCUs compete for research grants.
President Trump established an AI education task force to integrate AI into education, train educators on AI, and create AI apprenticeship opportunities. The task force will solicit private-public partnerships to develop resources for educators and K-12 students.
The National Academies Physics and Astronomy Board will hold its spring meeting this week. DOE’s acting Office of Science director, Harriet Kung, and NSF’s Mathematical and Physical Sciences lead, David Berkowitz, will provide updates on their respective divisions.
The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on American innovation in biomedical research. Sudip Parikh, chief executive officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is scheduled to appear as a witness.

AIP to host lecture on LIGO site selection

The American Institute of Physics will hold an in-person event in Washington, DC, Friday evening exploring the hidden history of how the site of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave in Livingston, Louisiana, was selected. Far from just a political decision, historian of civil and environmental engineering Tiffany Nichols will discuss how physicists, engineers, science policy analysts, attorneys, and staff at federal agencies all played a role in the success of the LIGO project. Register to attend this free event here.

All events are Eastern Time unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement. Events beyond this week are listed on our website.