Science Policy This Week: July 6, 2026

What’s Ahead

The National Science Foundation logo on a flag outside the agency’s recently vacated headquarters.

AP Photo / Mark Schiefelbein

NSF to bar research collaborations with restricted foreign entities

The National Science Foundation announced last week that it plans to introduce a new policy prohibiting the use of NSF funds for research in collaboration with entities that the Department of Defense and other agencies have flagged as national security risks. The policy refers to lists of entities that include many Chinese companies, such as telecommunications giant Huawei, and some Chinese universities.

The forthcoming policy, which NSF plans to implement in fiscal year 2027, alongside the agency’s new financial assistance guidance, would also prohibit leading researchers on NSF awards from holding appointments with, or receiving research support from, any restricted entities. When the policy goes into effect, institutions submitting NSF proposals will be required to certify compliance with the new requirements and will be responsible for ensuring researchers are informed of the changes.

NSF’s current research security risk mitigation measures are “not sufficient,” the agency said in the Dear Colleague Letter announcing the policy. The agency also said that aligning its approach with the Department of Defense’s research collaboration rules (which were introduced earlier this year) would promote consistency and reduce administrative burden.

Republicans on the House Committee on the CCP, who have pushed for tighter restrictions on research collaboration, welcomed NSF’s announcement, with Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) describing the changes as “commendable and commonsense” policy reforms.

“Prohibiting federal funding from being used to collaborate with Chinese entities that are national security risks or human rights abusers is straightforward and all federal agencies should follow the lead of the Pentagon and NSF,” Moolenaar said. In his statement, Moolenaar called on Congress to pass the Securing Innovation and Research from Adversaries Act – a bill he introduced in May that would codify similar rules and apply them across the federal government.

The House Committee on the CCP will hold a hearing on protecting federally funded research on Wednesday. Representatives from NSF, the Department of Energy, and the National Institutes of Health will appear as witnesses.

OMB grantmaking rule comment period ends

The comment period closes today for the Office of Management and Budget’s sweeping proposed rule on federal grantmaking. The proposal would give political appointees final say over grant decisions across the federal government, including the power to terminate grants that do not meet administration priorities. It also includes provisions disallowing funds for publishing costs, restricting international collaboration, and more. Nearly 300,000 comments had been submitted at the time of publication. The office has proposed that the rule take effect by Oct. 1, but it must consider all substantive comments before finalizing the rule.

A group of scientific and other organizations asked OMB in June to extend the comment period by 45 days, while Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) asked the office last week for a 90-day extension. In her letter, Collins said the proposed changes are “the most significant changes proposed to the Guidance since it was adopted,” and that she has heard from stakeholders that the current comment period is inadequate. Collins also criticized the proposed rule’s grant termination provisions and its introduction of a “pre-issuance” review by political appointees. She asked OMB to “withdraw portions of the rule that would unduly burden scientific and biomedical research and small communities.”

Democrats on both appropriations committees have gone further, calling for OMB to fully rescind the proposed rule. In contrast, Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) is reportedly leading a letter expressing strong support for the proposed rule. OMB’s proposal will help prevent federal funding for unlawful activities, including racial discrimination, “radical gender ideology,” and circumventing immigration enforcement, Banks’s letter states.

Defunded climate change research program gets skeptical director

A critic of climate science is now the director of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which coordinates climate change research across agencies and produces the National Climate Assessment report on the impacts of climate change, Politico reported last week. Matthew Wielicki, a former professor of geological sciences at the University of Alabama, posted on X in late June asking, “What do you want to see in the Sixth National Climate Assessment?” This is the first indication of activity from USGCRP since April 2025, when the Trump administration eliminated federal funding for USGCRP and dismissed the authors of the sixth NCA, which was then in progress.

In December, E&E News reported that the administration had interviewed candidates to lead USGCRP and asked the five authors of the Department of Energy greenhouse gas report to serve as authors of the next NCA. The group of four scientists and one economist, all of whom have expressed skepticism about leading climate change impact assessments, argued in the report that warming induced by carbon dioxide “might be less damaging economically than commonly believed, and that excessively aggressive mitigation strategies could prove more detrimental than beneficial.” At a House Science Committee hearing in June, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who hand-picked the report authors, indicated that DOE wants to do more to continue the “dialogue” on the facts around climate change.

Following the Politico article, Wright posted on X, “Matt Weilicki [sic] is an honest scientist who follows the data wherever it leads. That is what science is all about. He will lead our efforts to honestly present the empirical climate data to guide policy makers. Sadly, too much of the mainstream climate community has focused on a scary narrative that is inconsistent with actual climate data, leading so many astray like reporters at Politico.”

Also on our radar

DOE’s newly appointed Secretary of Energy Advisory Board contains many representatives from the oil and gas industry and some from other fields such as renewable energy, nuclear energy, and computing. Steve Koonin, an author of the controversial DOE greenhouse gas report, is the only university academic.
DOE’s Office of Science Advisory Committee, which was created to replace several topic-specific committees, will hold its second meeting this Friday.
The White House held a closed summit with quantum companies last week. DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative was a major topic of discussion, according to reporting by Politico.
NSF has launched an initiative called Project Triad to integrate its quantum sensors, networks and computers into one system, opening a “new frontier” of real-world applications, the agency said.
China emphasized actively responding to climate change in its newly released five-year plan “for building a beautiful China.”
Workers at NIST’s Engineering Lab recently voted in favor of joining the AFGE union, which also represents workers at NSF and USGS.

Monday, July 13

National Academies: Committee on Enhancing the Reach and Contributions of Informal STEM Learning meeting (continues Tuesday)

National Academies: Federal Facilities Council meeting
12:00 - 3:00 pm

Tuesday, July 14

House: Combating DEI in American institutions
10:00 am, Oversight and Government Reform Committee

FDD: Countering the CCP’s exploitation of US academic research
10:00 am

House: FY27 BIS Budget: The AI arms race and the ICTS Office
10:00 am, Foreign Affairs Committee

House: Energy subcommittee markup of multiple bills, including DOE Nuclear Transparency Act
10:15 am, Energy and Commerce Committee

House: Winning the economic competition with China: Working families, the AI race, and energy
2:00 pm, Oversight and Government Reform Committee

NSF: BIOSECURE Act and beyond – evolving federal biotech policy
2:00 - 3:00 pm

Wednesday, July 15

Women in Policy Alliance: Coffee & conversation with Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR) and Mary Guenther, head of space policy at the Progressive Policy Institute
8:45 - 10:00 am

House: Protecting American innovation: The federal research security enterprise
10:00 am, CCP Committee

Senate: Business meeting to consider the Hurricane Hunter Aircraft Recapitalization Act and other bills
10:00 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

House: A review of the Office of Space Commerce’s mission authorization proposal
10:00 am, Science Committee

AMS: How weather impacted vehicle rollout to launch for Artemis II
12:00 pm

House: Emerging fraud threats and the evolving fraud landscape
2:00 pm, Oversight and Government Reform Committee

Senate: Closed briefing on DOD FY27 budget request
4:30 pm, Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Opportunities

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

Job Openings

AIP: Director of social science research (ongoing)
FIA: Fall intern (ongoing)
ACS: Congressional fellowship (ongoing)
AIP: Director of science policy news (ongoing)
◆DOD: Director, R&D infrastructure (July 14)
◆NSF: Lead grants management specialist (July 14)
◆Commerce: Lead telecommunications specialist (July 14)
DOE: Deputy assistant secretary for operations, Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (July 15)
DOE: Chief research officer, National Energy Technology Laboratory (July 15)
◆NNSA: DOE paralegal specialist, Los Alamos (July 15)
NIST: Quantum communications program director (July 20)
DOE: Director, materials science and engineering (July 20)
◆NASA: Research strategy and security officer (July 22)
NASA: Director, Planetary Science Division (July 30)

Solicitations

Physics Today: Reader information survey (ongoing)
NSF: RFC for the Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Program (July 17)
NOAA: Call for nominations for the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (July 17)
NASA: RFI on astronaut candidate selection qualifications (July 30)
◆NIST: Request for letters of interest to join the NIST AI Consortium (July 31)
◆OPM: RFC on revisions to regulations governing performance-based reduction in grade and removal (Aug. 3)
NIH: RFI on capping the number of simultaneous research project grants per principal investigator (Aug. 3)
FAR Council: RFI on “Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 1, 2, 4, 33, 40, and 53” (Aug. 24)
NSF: RFC on NSF Guidance on Financial Assistance (Aug. 24)
◆National Academies: Request for input on decadal survey for Earth science and applications from space 2028-2037 (Aug. 24)

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