Science policy this week: April 7, 2025

What’s Ahead

April Hearings Nominee Composite 2.png — From left: NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman, DOE under secretary for science nominee Darío Gil, and NNSA administrator nominee Brandon Williams.

Polaris Dawn crew, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 / IBM / Congress

Top DOE and NASA nominees to testify

The Senate will consider a raft of President Donald Trump’s nominations for leadership positions at the Department of Energy, NASA, and other agencies this week. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on the nominations of National Science Board Chair Darío Gil to be under secretary of energy for science and innovation and attorney Preston Griffith to be a separate under secretary of energy. During the Biden administration, the under secretary for science oversaw the DOE Office of Science and various applied energy R&D offices, while the other under secretary oversaw energy technology demonstration and deployment programs funded through recent infrastructure legislation. However, the Trump administration may rescope these roles. The Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on the nomination of former Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY) to lead DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration along with three nominations for Defense Department roles.

NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman will testify at a Wednesday hearing by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Isaacman is a billionaire tech CEO who has commanded two private orbital missions led by SpaceX. Isaacman has criticized aspects of NASA’s human space exploration programs in recent years, calling the Space Launch System rocket “outrageously expensive.” He has also drawn attention to these high costs in light of NASA’s proposed cuts to the Chandra X-ray observatory, petitioning the agency to fully fund the telescope. Isaacman’s nomination has been praised by various space industry stakeholders while drawing criticism from some conservative groups and activists due to his past donations to Democratic campaigns and the diversity initiatives of companies he has been involved with. Also on Wednesday, the committee is slated to vote on advancing the nomination of Arielle Roth to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. On Thursday, the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of former House CCP Committee staffer Landon Heid to be assistant secretary of commerce for export administration at the Bureau of Industry and Security, which is responsible for developing and implementing export regulations.

Scientists challenge grant terminations in court

Researchers are taking legal action after the National Institutes of Health terminated hundreds of research grants over the last month. Four scientists joined the American Public Health Association and two other organizations in suing NIH, alleging that the reason given for the cancellations — that the research does not support agency priorities — is arbitrary and unjustified and therefore illegal. Furthermore, the lawsuit states NIH exceeded its legal authority by disregarding congressional mandates to fund health disparities research and address the underrepresentation of certain groups in the medical field. The lawsuit aims to restore funding to the impacted researchers and prevent the NIH from continuing to cut awards in this manner, according to a press release from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Litigation against university-specific cuts is also ongoing. Last month, the American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit on behalf of members who are also faculty at Columbia University, which is poised to lose $400 million in funding, including more than $250 million in NIH grants. The Trump administration has targeted several Ivy League universities for grant cuts, including the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, Princeton University, and most recently Brown University.

Senators probe HHS reorganization amid major firings and rehirings

Leaders of the Senate Health Committee called on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to testify on Thursday on his reorganization of the department, which has resulted in more than 10,000 layoffs and reduced the number of HHS divisions from 28 to 15. The senators referred to Kennedy’s moves as a “proposed” reorganization, suggesting they may challenge some of the changes. The layoffs included more than 1,000 staff at the National Institutes of Health, including the removal of four institute directors who were career civil servants. Some of these directors and other laid-off HHS employees were offered reassignments to the Indian Health Service, which would require them to locate to more remote regions of the country.

At one NIH institute, ten principal investigators were fired only to be brought back days later, Science reported. Some were told that a computer or coding error led to their accidental terminations. Kennedy told reporters that he expected 20% of the layoffs across the department would be made in error. “Personnel that should not have been cut were cut. We’re reinstating them. And that was always part of the plan. Part of the DOGE, we talked about this from the beginning, is we’re going to do 80% cuts, but 20% of those are going to have to be reinstated, because we’ll make mistakes,” he said. However, subsequent reporting suggests HHS does not intend to reverse the layoffs to that degree. Meanwhile, the Department of Government Efficiency has directed HHS to cut contract spending by 35% at each of its divisions.

Other departments are now re-offering deferred resignations in advance of reductions in force. Department of Energy employees have until Tuesday to respond to the offer, Department of Interior staff have until Wednesday, and Department of Defense staff have until next Monday.

House examines US-China competition in AI models

The House Science Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on AI models from the Chinese company DeepSeek, which drew attention early this year when its R1 model performed comparably to U.S.-developed models while apparently being more cost-effective and using less advanced chips. The hearing will explore the state of competition in open-weight AI models, the role that U.S. technology played in the DeepSeek models’ advancement, and the federal role in supporting private sector AI R&D. The witnesses are Adam Thierer, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute; Gregory Allen, the director of AI and advanced technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Julia Stoyanovich, computer science professor and director of the Center for Responsible AI at New York University; and Tim Fist, the director of emerging technology policy at the Institute for Progress.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee will also hold a hearing Wednesday focused on how the federal government can facilitate developments in computing power and AI modeling, including through producing more electricity and next-generation chips. The witnesses are former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, Micron Technology executive Manish Bhatia, and David Turk, who was deputy energy secretary under the Biden administration. The hearing follows a request for information from the Department of Energy on building data centers and new energy infrastructure on DOE land. The RFI identifies 16 sites under consideration.

Also on our radar

President Trump nominated hypersonics expert Joseph Jewell to be assistant secretary of defense for science and technology and Michael Dodd to be assistant secretary of defense for critical technologies.
The National Security Commission for Emerging Biotechnology will present its final report at a House hearing on Tuesday and at a public summit two days later. The group was set up by Congress in 2022 and issued an interim report last year warning that the U.S. risks falling behind China absent actions such as increasing funding for biotechnology R&D.
President Trump issued an executive order last week establishing the U.S. Investment Accelerator, which will oversee the CHIPS Program Office and aim to draw investment to the U.S. by helping investors navigate regulations and form research partnerships with the national labs.
The management contract for Jefferson Lab will remain in place for another year after DOE scrapped the recompetition of the contract begun under the Biden administration. DOE stated in February that the Biden-era solicitation did not “align” with the priorities of the Trump administration. The department announced last week that the current contract will be extended through May 2026 and a new competition will commence in the third quarter of 2025.
CERN released a study last week on the feasibility of the Future Circular Collider project, a potential successor to the Large Hadron Collider.

Monday, April 7

Space Foundation: Space Symposium (continues through Thursday)

NRC: Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes meeting (continues Tuesday)

National Academies: Implications of recent Supreme Court decisions for agency decision-making: A workshop (continues Tuesday)

Center for American Progress: Research in ruin: Slashing the NIH will stifle development of lifesaving medical treatments and harm the economy
1:00 - 2:00 pm

AEI: How much money is DOGE saving taxpayers?
4:00 - 5:30 pm

Tuesday, April 8

Senate: Nomination hearing for NNSA administrator and three DOD positions
9:30, Armed Services Committee

House: Federal foreclosure: Reducing the federal real estate portfolio
10:00 am, Oversight Committee

House: DeepSeek: A deep dive
10:00 am, Science, Space, and Technology Committee

Heritage Foundation: Reclaiming the culture of American higher education
10:30 - 11:30 am

National Academies: Manufacturing USA education and workforce development workshop
11:00 am - 4:40 pm

National Academies: Bringing electricity system innovation to market
2:00 - 3:00 pm

Senate: The state of nuclear shipbuilding
2:30 pm, Armed Services Committee

House: Final report of the National Security Commission for Emerging Biotechnology
4:00 pm, Armed Services Committee

Hoover Institution: Trump and Taiwan: A big, beautiful relationship or the deal maker’s ultimate bargaining chip?
4:00 - 5:15 pm PT

Wednesday, April 9

Columbia University: Energy security and the transition amid geopolitical turbulence
8:30 am - 5:00 pm

Senate: Meeting to advance the DOE deputy secretary nomination and the Critical Mineral Consistency Act
10:00 am, Energy and Natural Resources Committee

House: Meeting to advance the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act and other bills
10:00 am, Homeland Security Committee

Senate: Meeting to consider the Protecting Students on Campus Act and other bills
10:00 am, Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

Senate: Meeting to advance the NTIA administrator nomination
10:00 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

House: Converting energy into intelligence: The future of AI technology, human discovery, and American global competitiveness
10:00 am, Energy and Commerce Committee

CSIS: How the US can seize the age of biology with Michelle Rozo
10:00 - 11:00 am

Senate: NASA director nomination hearing
10:00 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

Senate: Hearings to examine reducing waste, fraud and abuse through innovation, focusing on how AI and data can improve government efficiency
2:30 pm, Joint Economic Committee

House: FY26 strategic forces posture hearing
3:30 pm, Armed Services Committee

Thursday, April 10

Carnegie India: 2025 Global Technology Summit, New Delhi (continues through Saturday)

NSCEB and Special Competitive Studies Project: AI and biotechnology
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Senate: Nomination hearing for under secretary of energy for science and other positions
10:00 am, Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Senate: Nomination hearing for assistant secretary of commerce for export administration
10:00 am, Banking Committee

Hoover Institution: Boom or bust: Can Taiwan secure the energy supplies it needs to meet its high-tech aspirations?
3:30 - 5:30 pm PT

University of Michigan: Broadening horizons: How STEM-in-society programs train socially responsible scientists, engineers, and policy leaders
4:00 pm

Friday, April 11

National Academies: Assessment of SBIR/STTR programs at the Department of Energy, meeting eight
12:00 - 1:00 pm

CSIS: Deepening the US-Japan space security relationship
1:00 - 4:00 pm

Monday, April 14

Belfer Center, Harvard Kennedy School: A new nuclear age? A conversation with former deputy energy secretary Daniel Poneman
12:00 - 1:15 pm

National Academies: Chemistry 2050: Space
12:00 - 2:00 pm

Johns Hopkins SAIS: Russia’s approaches to strategic and nuclear deterrence: Lessons from the war in Ukraine
12:30 pm

Stimson Center: Tech Cold War: The geopolitics of technology
12:30 - 2:00 pm

Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

Opportunities

Deadlines indicated in parentheses. Newly added opportunities are marked with a diamond.

Job Openings

◆Cornell: Associate director of federal relations (ongoing)
◆Johns Hopkins: Assistant director, federal strategy (ongoing)
◆OpenAI: US federal affairs lead (ongoing)
◆APS: Managing editor, physical science and physics education (ongoing)
AEI: Science policy research assistant (ongoing)
CSIS: Deputy director and senior fellow, Wadhwani AI Center (ongoing)
SpaceX: Satellite policy analyst (ongoing)
SpaceX: Global government affairs manager for Starlink (ongoing)
Washington Post: Business, science, and technology editor (ongoing)
AIP: Associate director of public policy research and analysis (ongoing)
Federation of American Scientists: Director of government affairs (ongoing)
Blue Marble Institute: Young Scientists Program (April 10)
Science: Newsletter intern (April 10)
◆British Consulate: Senior science and technology officer (April 13)
AAAS: Kavli Science Journalism Awards intern (April 20)

Solicitations

APS: Survey collecting stories about the positive impact of federally funded research (ongoing)
Maritime Administration: RFI on Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE) Pact (April 9)
American Meteorological Society: Register for the 2025 Science Policy Colloquium (April 15)
◆National Academies: Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics: Call for experts (April 30)
◆DOE: RFI on AI infrastructure on DOE lands (May 7)
DHS: RFC on training plan for STEM OPT students (May 19)
◆NSB: Call for nominations to the National Science Board (May 30)

Know of an opportunity for scientists to engage in science policy? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

Around the Web

News and views currently in circulation. Links do not imply endorsement.

Top DOE and NASA nominees to testify

Scientists challenge grant terminations in court

Senators probe HHS reorganization amid major firings and rehirings

House examines US-China competition in AI models

Also on our radar

Monday, April 7

Tuesday, April 8

Wednesday, April 9

Thursday, April 10

Friday, April 11

Monday, April 14

Job Openings

Solicitations

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