Senate releases DOE funding proposals after long delay

Senate Republicans unveiled their fiscal year 2026 funding proposals for the Department of Energy last week. The draft bill seeks to cut the base budget of various energy R&D programs, though it mitigates the impact by repurposing funds originally appropriated through infrastructure legislation enacted in 2021.

For instance, the bill proposes a base budget of $8 billion for the DOE Office of Science, which would represent a 3% cut from last year’s level. However, the bill also would transfer $250 million in unspent infrastructure funds to the office, negating the cut. This dynamic is more pronounced for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, for which the bill proposes a base budget of $2.2 billion and a repurposing of $1 billion in infrastructure funds, amounting to a topline cut of 5% from last year. In any event, the cuts proposed are far less steep than those sought by the Trump administration. For details on the proposals, consult FYI’s Federal Science Budget Tracker.

The bill normally would have been released over the summer but was delayed due to the Senate’s top appropriator for DOE, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), insisting that it include spending cuts. Kennedy declined to use a higher topline budget given to him by Appropriations Committee leaders “because he believed he could fund these vital programs with more force and efficiency,” according to a press release from his office.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, criticized the bill as partisan but said there are aspects of it that she supports. Among other items, Murray said the bill would provide the DOE Office of Science with “the funding needed to continue their critical, cutting-edge work and prevent devastating layoffs.” She also praised the bill for blocking DOE’s “senseless plan to slash critical research with its indirect cost policy,” through which the department is seeking to cap reimbursement rates at 15%. The bill includes a provision (Sec. 315) that would direct DOE to continue using the same indirect cost rate as it did in fiscal year 2024.

House to examine competition with China in space

The House Science Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday on the growth of China’s space industry and “the risks to U.S. leadership.” The hearing’s charter says it will focus on China’s space strategy, “including the benefits of a consistent political direction, sustained funding, and its military-civil fusion approach.” The charter also discusses China’s ambitions for space science as described in the CCP’s National Mid-Term and Long-Term Plan for Space Science in China. These ambitions include becoming the top-ranked country in key research areas such as black holes and neutron stars. The hearing witnesses will be Dean Cheng, a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies who specializes in U.S.-China relations; Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Patrick Besha, founder of the Global Space Group and a former NASA senior policy adviser, and Michael Griffin, co-president of LogiQ and a former NASA administrator.

OSTP seeks input on accelerating science

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has issued a request for information on how to accelerate the U.S. scientific enterprise, including by cutting regulations and changing funding mechanisms. The request asks for ways the federal government can better translate scientific discoveries into practical applications, use metascience findings to maximize scientific productivity, and develop more collaboration between the public and private sectors, between scientists and skilled technical workers, and between universities and local businesses. The RFI also asks about leveraging and preparing for advances in AI systems and for ways to strengthen research security “while minimizing compliance burdens.” Comments are due by Dec. 26.

Northwestern agrees to pay $75 million to restore federal research funding

Northwestern University is the latest to sign a deal with the Trump administration to restore at least $790 million in federal funding that was first frozen in April. The university agreed to pay $75 million to the federal government over the next three years. The university also agreed to provide the government with anonymized undergraduate admissions data, eliminate any advantages to individuals based on protected characteristics, and continue complying with foreign gift and contract reporting. Northwestern also agreed to reverse all of the policies in the agreement it signed with pro-Palestinian student protesters in 2024. In exchange, the government agreed to “fairly consider all applications for federal funding submitted by Northwestern... without disfavored or favored treatment,” and permanently close all pending investigations regarding Northwestern’s compliance with anti-discrimination laws. The agreement runs until the end of 2028.

Also on our radar

• Jared Isaacman’s second nomination hearing to be NASA administrator is set for Wednesday. He will likely face questions on his Project Athena manifesto for the agency that was leaked last month.
• A new NIH policy disposes of the “payline” system that many institutes previously used to guide their funding decisions. The new policy also directs institutes to consider factors such as a grant applicant’s career stage and geographic location in funding decisions.
• A congressional commission on biotechnology issued a report with recommendations to streamline the federal funding application process and enable autonomous experimentation.
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on “countering China’s challenge to American AI leadership.”
• DOD awarded multiple contracts for prototypes of space-based interceptors, a key part of the White House’s Golden Dome project.

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

Monday, December 1

ASA: Acoustical Society of America and Acoustical Society of Japan joint meeting (continues through Friday)

CSIR: World Conference of Science Journalists (continues through Friday)

National Academies: Committee on Solar and Space Physics (continues Tuesday)

National Academies: Extreme weather events and insurance: Infrastructure, utilities, and who pays
2:30 - 4:00 pm

National Academies: Future directions for NSF’s advanced cyberinfrastructure, meeting 19
2:30 - 3:30 pm

Tuesday, December 2

National Academies: Future directions for Earth observations and data stewardship (continues Wednesday)

Senate: Signal under siege: Defending America’s communications networks
10:00 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

House: Securing America’s energy infrastructure: Addressing cyber and physical threats to the grid
10:30 am, Energy and Commerce Committee

CSET: The talent map: How CSET’s PATHWISE can guide AI and cyber workforce policy
12:00 - 1:00 pm

NDIA: Quantum technologies: Why they matter even more now
1:00 - 2:00 pm

CSIS: Keeping China grounded: Ensuring long-term US tech leadership in low Earth orbit
2:00 - 5:00 pm

Senate: Countering China’s challenge to American AI leadership
2:30 pm, Foreign Relations Committee

Senate: Hearing to consider legislation on wildfire response
3:00 pm, Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Wednesday, December 3

CSIS: ROK-US Strategic Forum
9:00 am - 3:15 pm

Harvard Belfer Center: The drivers of extended deterrence choices: Evidence from Norwegian parliamentary debates, 1945-2024
9:30 - 11:00 am

Senate: Nomination hearing for Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator
10:00 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

Senate: Nomination hearing for Douglas Weaver to be a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
10:00 am, Environment and Public Works Committee

WRI: Climate Watch training: Tracking commitments beyond COP30
10:00 - 11:00 am

NOAA: Briefing on mission authorization of “novel” commercial space activities
10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Aspen Institute: Message meets meaning: Reconnecting science and society
11:00 am - 12:15 pm

NTI: Report launch: Safeguarding AIxBio capabilities to prevent global catastrophe
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

National Academies: Assessing radiation exposure, health outcomes, and mitigation strategies for flight crewmembers
1:00 - 4:00 pm

House: Unleashing American energy dominance and exploring new frontiers
2:00 pm, Natural Resources Committee

Cato Institute: China’s economy and how it matters for US policy
3:00 - 4:30 pm

CSIS: Nvidia’s Jensen Huang on securing American leadership on AI
5:00 - 6:00 pm

Thursday, December 4

National Academies: Space Weather Roundtable (continues Friday)

House: Strategic trajectories assessing China’s space rise and the risks to US leadership
9:00 am, Science Committee

National Academies: Aeronautics Research and Technology Roundtable, fall meeting
9:00 am - 5:00 pm

C2ES: Gaining a competitive edge: Building climate-resilient supply chains
10:00 - 11:15 am

Center for American Progress: American leadership in AI, science, and innovation: A conversation with Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)
10:30 - 11:30 am

ITIF: Policy solutions to non-tariff attacks on US technology leadership
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Issues in Science and Technology: What is fiction’s role in imagining better social policies?
12:00 - 1:00 pm

National Academies: Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board meeting
1:30 - 3:00 pm

National Academies: Computing breakthroughs and innovation patterns, meeting 20
3:00 - 4:30 pm

Friday, December 5

Brookings: Securing critical supply chains in an age of great power rivalry
10:00 - 11:15 am

AAS: Webinar for faculty and department administrators in graduate admissions
12:00 pm

National Academies: Consensus study on corrections and retractions: Upgrading the scientific record
1:00 - 4:00 pm

Monday, December 8

National Academies: Future directions for NSF’s advanced cyberinfrastructure, meeting 20
2:30 - 3:30 pm

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

Job Openings

◆APS: Public affairs intern (ongoing)
APS: Science policy intern (ongoing)
AIP: Senior editor, Physics Today (ongoing)
The Ford Agency: Science regulatory specialist (ongoing)
FAS: Manager, government affairs (ongoing)
Orano: Internship, US nuclear back-end strategy analysis (ongoing)
Pew Charitable Trusts: Officer, State Science Policy Fellowship Initiative (ongoing)
NPR: Supervising editor, science and health (Dec. 8)
◆US-China Commission: Policy analyst, technology and science (Dec. 21)
AAAS: Mass media science and engineering fellowship (Jan. 1)
Optica: Congressional fellowship (Jan. 2)
NRAO: Assistant director, science support and research (Jan. 2)
AGU: Congressional fellowship (Jan. 15)
Berkeley Lab: Nuclear non-proliferation fellowship (Jan. 31)

Solicitations

AGU/AMS: Invitation for proposals for the US Climate Collection (ongoing)
AIP: Documenting career disruptions in the physical sciences (ongoing)
NSF: Research security practitioner survey (ongoing)
Civic Science Fellows: Call for fellowship hosts (Dec. 15)
NSF: RFP for the National AI Research Resource Operations Center (Dec. 15)
◆NSF: RFC on SBIR and STTR pre-award information collection (Dec. 24)
◆OSTP: RFI on accelerating the American scientific enterprise (Dec. 26)
DOE: Call for nominations for the 2026 Enrico Fermi Presidential Award (Jan. 7)
Education: RFC on Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) (Jan. 12)
DOE: RFI on partnerships for transformational AI models (Jan. 14)
Commerce: RFC on survey of state government research and development (Jan. 20)
EU: RFC on Research Area Act (Jan. 23)
◆Science: Dance your PhD contest (Feb. 20)
◆OSTP: RFI for the National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing (extended to Mar. 30)

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

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

White House

New York Times: Trump administration is taking billions in stakes in firms like Intel
New York Times: Silicon Valley’s man in the White House is benefiting himself and his friends
Inside AI Policy: Sacks, allies mount counteroffensive after article raises conflict-of-interest questions
E&E News: Trump bears down on push to cut top federal managers
Nature: Trump’s AI ‘Genesis Mission': What are the risks and opportunities?
HPCwire: Here’s what we know about the DOE’s new Genesis Mission
ITIF: The Genesis Mission marks a coherent national push for faster American science (perspective by Daniel Castro)

Congress

E&E News: Lawmakers to release final nuclear-infused defense bill
Space.com: China’s rising influence in space prompts Senate to call for new US research institute in post-ISS era
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA): Reps. Chu, Don Bacon (R-NE) lead colleagues in urging strong final FY26 appropriations for space science and exploration
E&E News: Senate unveils spending bill that cuts clean energy, science
E&E News: Lawmakers to question second Trump NRC nominee

Science, Society, and the Economy

Nature: ‘Anti-woke’ policies blamed for falling attendance at some US conferences
Wired: Poems can trick AI into helping you make a nuclear weapon
Reuters: US Patent Office issues new guidelines for AI-assisted inventions
Inside Higher Ed: Dartmouth latest college to be targeted by hackers
Bloomberg: Hackers strike Ivy League schools already under political pressure
Physics World: Academic assassinations are a threat to global science (perspective by Alireza Qaiumzadeh)

Education and Workforce

Chronicle of Higher Education: The Trump administration detained a longtime faculty member, saying he’s an undocumented immigrant
Chronicle of Higher Education: A professor was released after 3 days in ICE detention. His colleagues fear a ‘new normal’
Inside Higher Ed: Indiana may reject new degrees that don’t commit to “values of American society”
Inside Higher Ed: Survey: Most US universities saw dips in international enrollment
NSF: NSF introduces anonymous reporting system for safety issues in polar regions

Research Management

Inside Higher Ed: Anti-DEI guidance sent in error stokes research fears in the age of Trump
Bloomberg: US-China tension fuels decoupling in tech research, study shows
Financial Times: Relx thrives by swapping journals for data
Science and Public Policy: The involvement of nonacademic partners in societally-targeted funded research (paper by Irene Ramos-Vielba et al.)

Labs and Facilities

Lawrence Livermore: LLNL joins inaugural California Fusion Energy Convening
Physics World: Scientists in China celebrate the completion of the underground JUNO neutrino observatory
CERN: HIE-ISOLDE: 10 years, 10 highlights

Computing and Communications

Nature: China wants to lead the world on AI regulation — will the plan work?
Construction Physics: How a government think tank trained the first generation of US software developers
Brookings: How are Americans using AI? Evidence from a nationwide survey
Wall Street Journal: Tech titans amass multimillion-dollar war chests to fight AI regulation
ITIF: Why objections to federal preemption of state AI laws are wrong (perspective by Daniel Castro)
Financial Times: AI doesn’t add up if you neglect the mathematicians (perspective by Ewan Kirk)
HPCwire: Aramco and Pasqal deploy Saudi Arabia’s first quantum computer
Science and Public Policy: Public policy considerations of quantum computing (paper by Kim Moloney and Saif Al-Kuwari)

Space

Science|Business: European Space Agency members agree on €22 billion three-year budget
SpacePolicyOnline: ESA member states pledge record level of funding
Space Review: Revisiting the Wolf Amendment after 15 years
SpaceNews: Northrop Grumman selected to provide cargo services for final phase of ISS
NPR: China launches Shenzhou 22 spacecraft to assist in return of 3 stranded astronauts

Weather, Climate, and Environment

E&E News: How two NASA satellites survived Trump’s climate purge
MIT Technology Review: This year’s UN climate talks avoided fossil fuels, again
E&E News: NOAA chief plugs AI in forecasting as hurricane season wraps

Energy

American Nuclear Society: DOE reorganization’s impact on nuclear
American Nuclear Society: NRC receives construction application for isotope production reactor
Wall Street Journal: Can the US make big nuclear reactors?
Fusion Industry Association: FIA launches education and research partnership program
Power: Delivering nuclear energy: Promise vs regulatory reality (perspective by Brooke Poole Clark)
Power: Shimane 2 highlights progress in Japan’s nuclear restart program
Power: How AI is breathing new life into aging coal-fired power assets
Power: China’s molten salt reactor reaches thorium-uranium conversion milestone

Defense

New York Times: The forgotten nuclear weapon tests that Trump may seek to revive
New York Times: US nuclear arms chief warns against leaks of secret information
Undark: Boomtown: How futuristic weapons could power Albuquerque
Inside Defense: Pentagon approves ‘baseline’ Golden Dome architecture as implementation plan under review
DefenseScoop: Space Force set to release solicitation for prototypes of space-based interceptors

Biomedical

MIT: MIT scientists debut a generative AI model that could create molecules addressing hard-to-treat diseases
PharmaVoice: Along with NIH cuts come risks to patient safety and scientific data
American Council on Education: ACE joins amicus brief supporting reinstatement of canceled NIH grants
NPR: A breast cancer researcher at Harvard loses 1/3 of her staff amid NIH funding cuts

International Affairs

Research Professional: G20 leaders back inclusive science at summit
University World News: Academic boycotts are intensifying against Israel
R&D Magazine: What the European Innovation Act really needs to deliver
American Nuclear Society: International universities launch nuclear law courses
Nature: Why the world must wake up to China’s science leadership (perspective by Kerry Brown)
Wired: The rare earth metal driving tensions between the US and China
Research Professional: Spain reports record investment in R&D
Nature: Lack of funding is pushing research in Romania to extinction (perspective by Lucian Pintilie)
University World News: Science Forum outlines sovereign research agenda for Africa
Nature: Chile must preserve international science in Antarctica (perspective by Cristóbal Galbán Malagón, et al.)
Issues in Science and Technology: Why should taxpayers care about scientific cooperation? (perspectives)