NCAR operator sues NSF and White House over dismantling plans

The National Science Foundation has already made plans to transfer operations and maintenance of the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Wyoming Supercomputing Center to the University of Wyoming or another “third party managing entity,” according to a lawsuit filed last week by the University Consortium for Atmospheric Research, NCAR’s operator. NSF notified NCAR’s director of the plans in February, weeks before the period to submit proposals for transfer plans ended and responses could be considered. NSF does not plan to transfer the R&D activities that depend on the supercomputing center, according to the February letter from NSF. The lawsuit also references a whistleblower complaint to Rep. Joe Neguse’s (D-CO) office alleging that Trump administration officials began discussing the transfer of NCAR’s space weather program to a private company in January, before NSF had formally reviewed any proposals. Additionally, the lawsuit states that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration terminated a multi-million-dollar agreement with NCAR’s operator under the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program following the White House’s announcement that it would “break up” NCAR. UCAR alleges that federal agencies have also unconstitutionally restricted its employees’ speech by forbidding them from publicly discussing any restructuring.

The lawsuit says the White House’s plans to dismantle NCAR are part of “a series of punishments targeted at Colorado,” where NCAR is headquartered. The lawsuit adds that the agencies lack “any legitimate programmatic rationale for the actions” because they have not identified any performance deficiency with UCAR. Furthermore, the plans undermine the agencies’ and the administration’s broader priorities, the lawsuit states. It says Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s “commitment to weather forecasting modernization and ‘innovation’... will be adversely impacted by any action that disrupts supercomputing functions or divests authority from the organization most knowledgeable and capable of overseeing the supercomputing center — namely, NCAR.” The lawsuit also alleges that NSF lacks the authority to transfer stewardship of NCAR under its current agreement with UCAR, which ends on Sept. 30, 2028.

DOE Office of Science Advisory Committee to meet Friday

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science Advisory Committee will hold its first public meeting on Friday. The committee was formed last year when six former advisory committees were rolled into one as part of wider efforts by the Trump administration to reduce the number of non-statutory advisory committees in the federal government. The committee’s membership was announced earlier this year.

A tentative agenda for the meeting includes updates from the Office of Science and Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil, as well as a discussion of the Genesis Mission, quantum information science, and the office’s user facilities. The meeting comes following an announcement last week that the Office of Science is making multiple changes to the organization of its sub-offices, including merging the High Energy Physics and Nuclear Physics offices. The Fusion Energy Sciences office was notably left unchanged in the latest reorganization, despite rumors that it would be rolled into the department’s newly created Office of Fusion. Under Secretary Gil reportedly announced at the Fusion Industry Association’s annual conference last week that Jean Paul Allain, the current head of the Fusion Energy Sciences office, will become the new director of the Office of Fusion, with the acting head of the soon-to-be merged Nuclear Physics office, Linda Horton, taking over FES on a temporary basis.

Comment period closing on proposed rule impacting all federal grants

The window to submit public comments on a proposed General Services Administration rule impacting federal grant applications will close on March 30. All applicants applying for grants from a federal agency are required to register with SAM.gov, and GSA’s proposed rule would ask applicants to certify that they will follow anti-discrimination laws in line with recent guidance from the Department of Justice and an executive order from President Donald Trump regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. According to the education consulting firm Education Counsel, the changes “could seek to contractually bind almost all federal grantees — across all agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education — to the Administration’s interpretations of what is lawful or unlawful regarding DEI; immigration; terrorism/public safety; and free speech/religious liberty” with potential penalties for funding recipients that do not comply.

National Academies hosts Space Science Week

Several science agency officials will share space-related updates at the National Academies’ Space Science Week plenary on Tuesday, including representatives from NASA, the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as well as European, Chinese, Indian, and Japanese space agencies. Various Academies committees on space will also meet throughout the week. The conference will feature two joint sessions on Wednesday, one focused on AI use in the space sciences and another on Dark and Quiet Skies for astronomy. The Committee on Radio Frequencies will receive updates from the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and NSF’s spectrum management program and Spectrum Innovation Center. The Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics will receive updates on NSF’s astronomy work and facilities and DOE’s Cosmic Frontier program, which works to understand the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

Trump unveils AI legislative framework

The Trump administration published a national policy framework for artificial intelligence last week, urging Congress to create a single set of principles guiding AI development and consumer protections, rather than a “patchwork of conflicting state laws.” Leading House Republicans have endorsed the plan, but the proposal is already facing criticism from Democrats and some state officials, who warn that preempting state laws could weaken AI oversight.

The framework calls to remove “barriers to innovation” in AI development. It argues that Congress should avoid creating new regulatory bodies for AI and instead give that responsibility to existing organizations. It also argues that training AI models on copyrighted material does not violate copyright laws, but “acknowledges arguments to the contrary,” leaving the door open for Congress or courts to impose copyright-related restrictions on model development. It also calls on Congress to “streamline” permitting for AI infrastructure and power generation, but without allowing power demand from AI data centers to cause residential consumers to pay higher rates for electricity.

Also on our radar

• The European Data Protection Board raised concerns to the European Commission about proposed changes to the U.S. ESTA program that would collect information such as visitors’ social media activity in the last five years and their family members’ personal data. The ESTA program is frequently used by scientists visiting the U.S. for conferences.
• GSA and NIST’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation announced a joint effort last week to strengthen how the federal government tests and evaluates AI before agencies and the federal workforce start using it in real-world settings.
• States sued the EPA last week over its rescission of the endangerment finding, which underpinned the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The lawsuit joins another filed by environmental groups in February.
• The House Science Committee advanced the NOAA Weather Radio Modernization Act. The bill directs NOAA to update emergency weather alert systems and requires the agency to notify the committee if it makes staffing changes that could impact its weather forecasting capacity.
• DOE is now accepting applications from teams interested in using AI to tackle the science and technology challenges identified as part of the agency’s Genesis Mission. DOE plans to make initial awards of $500,000 to $750,000 to each project from a fund of $293 million.
• The current national quantum strategy needs several improvements, according to a GAO report: performance measures to gauge progress on quantum computing, an established level of resources and infrastructure needed, specific roles and responsibilities for federal agencies, and integration of agency-level plans. OSTP has neither agreed nor disagreed with the recommendation, the report states.
• GAO found that federal agencies do not consistently report spending data for other transaction agreements (OTAs) and has identified issues with the completeness and accuracy of subaward data on USAspending.gov.
• The Trump administration is continuing its crackdown on union representation within federal science agencies on national security grounds, with DOE recently moving to terminate two collective bargaining agreements and NASA changing some employees’ union eligibility status, per reporting by GovExec.

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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, March 23

National Academies: Space Science Week 2026 (continues through Friday)

CSIS: Taiwan’s space ambitions and the future of US-Taiwan cooperation
10:30 - 11:00 am

WSBR: Washington Space Business Roundtable annual flagship luncheon
11:00 am - 1:30 pm

NSF Secure Center: Town hall for nonprofit research institutes
2:30 pm

Tuesday, March 24

Arms Control Association: Multilateral arms control after New START: Involving China and other nuclear-armed states
1:00 pm

Atlantic Council: Shaping the new space age
2:00 - 4:00 pm

Wednesday, March 25

Senate: Business meeting to consider the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act and other bills
10:00 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

House: The future of low Earth orbit: From the ISS to commercial platforms
10:00 am, Science Committee

House: Office of Personnel Management oversight hearing
10:00 am, Appropriations Committee

House: National Weather Service oversight hearing
11:00 am, Appropriations Committee

Harvard: How to fund mad scientists: Evaluating the landscape for public high-risk
11:30 am - 1:00 pm

CNAS: Project Maven: Artificial intelligence in warfare
1:00 - 2:00 pm

Meridian: Space Diplomacy Forum
1:00 - 7:00 pm

House: Unleashing America’s mineral potential: The critical mineral commodity supply chain
2:00 pm, Natural Resources Committee

Georgetown: The new bio frontier: Creating an ecosystem for a healthy and secure future
3:00 - 4:00 pm

House: National security space programs and activities
3:00 pm, Armed Services Committee

ESEP: Engaging Scientists and Engineers in Policy happy hour
5:00 - 7:00 pm

Thursday, March 26

Senate: To receive testimony on the posture of United States Space Command and United States Strategic Command in review of the defense authorization request for fiscal year 2027 and the Future Years Defense Program
9:30 am, Armed Services Committee

House: Legislative hearing to consider the Advancing Water Research and Collaboration Act and other bills
10:00 am, Natural Resources Committee

House: GAO assessment of the Federal Buildings Fund oversight hearing
10:00 am, Appropriations Committee

House: US universities under siege: Foreign espionage, stolen innovation, and the national security threat
10:15 am, Education and Workforce Committee

FCC: Open meeting to discuss Spectrum Abundance for Weird Space Stuff and other notices of proposed rulemaking
10:30 am

USRA: Annual symposium
1:00 - 5:30 pm

Carnegie: Technology and the bomb: Evaluating proliferation risks in a rapidly evolving world
2:00 - 3:00 pm

House: Arctic security in an era of global competition: Safeguarding US interests in frigid waters
2:00 - 5:00 pm, Homeland Security Committee

House: Member day, Commerce-Justice-Science
3:00 pm, Appropriations Committee

CSPO: CDR at the engagement frontier
4:30 - 8:00 pm

AMS: Languages of the sky and the first internet of weather
7:00 pm

Friday, March 27

DOE: Office of Science Advisory Committee meeting
8:00 am - 5:00 pm

CSPO: Building platforms for geoengineering research and governance
8:30 am - 1:00 pm

NIST: Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology meeting
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

NSF: SECURE Center town hall for small and medium businesses
12:00 pm

Monday, March 30

National Academies: Annual summit of the Action Collaborative on Education and Workforce Trajectories in Tech (continues Tuesday)

Harvard: How can the US engage China in arms control? Structural obstacles to Sino-US nuclear stability
1:30 - 3:00 pm

AEI: The future of workforce training in the AI era
4:00 - 5:30 pm

International Space University: Space café with the Netherlands Embassy
6:00 - 8:00 pm

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

Job Openings

◆Google: AI policy manager II (ongoing)
◆Senate: Legislative assistant, Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and legislative assistant, senior Commerce Committee Republican (ongoing)
◆CSIS: Summer interns, Strategic Technologies Program (ongoing)
◆National Academies: Editorial assistant (ongoing)
New York State Energy R&D: Associate director, government affairs (ongoing)
Gilead: Associate director, US virology strategy and policy (ongoing)
APLU: Senior vice president for academic affairs (ongoing)
◆APLU: Assistant vice president for governmental affairs (ongoing)
APS: Chief marketing and communications officer (ongoing)
AIP: Director of science policy news (ongoing)
AIP: Senior editor, Physics Today (ongoing)
Science Philanthropy Alliance: Civic science fellow (ongoing)
Foundation for American Innovation: Research fellow, weather and atmospheric interventions (ongoing)
Science: Communication and marketing intern (March 30)
Science: Kavli Science Journalism Awards intern (March 30)
Senate: Resume bank for entry-level positions (March 31)
◆OMB: Program examiner detailee, DOE (April 6)
AAS: John N. Bahcall Public Policy Fellowship (April 15)
AAS: Editor in Chief (May 11)
ANS: Congressional science and engineering fellowship (June 5)

Solicitations

ITIF: Call for applicants to participate in the March 2026 tech policy educational seminar series for congressional and federal staff (ongoing)
OSTP: RFI for the National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing (March 30)
NSF: RFI on the NSF Research Traineeship program monitoring system (March 31)
IEEE: Call for nominations and applications for IEEE leadership (multiple deadlines)
National Academies: Call for submissions for Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications (April 3)
NSF: RFC on NCSES data collection (April 7)
House Appropriations Committee: Call to submit written testimony on HHS budget (April 16)
NSF: RFC on renewal of the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (May 8)
NSF: RFC on Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (May 8)
House Appropriations Committee: Call to submit written testimony on FY27 science budget (May 8)
◆NIST: RFC on CHIPS Workforce Solution participant data collection (May 18)
◆NASA: RFC on NASA Front Door (May 19)
NRC: RFC on regulation of byproduct material associated with fusion machines (May 27)
NSF: RFC on Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program (June 30)

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

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Do you have a story to tell about how science policy is impacting you?

AIP’s research team is gathering first-hand accounts from scientists, engineers, students, and staff whose careers have been affected by policy and funding changes over the past year. Volunteers can submit their stories via this online form. Participants’ stories will be added to the Niels Bohr Library & Archives digital repository as searchable, citable records — with options for anonymity and a five-year embargo period. Read more about the initiative here.

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

White House

E&E News: Appeals court upholds most of block on Trump spending freeze
White House: Fact sheet: President Donald J. Trump establishes the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud
FedScoop: Trump anti-fraud order eyes stronger data-sharing on federal programs
Breaking Defense: With the Pentagon’s FY27 budget request forthcoming, it’s unclear if it will hit $1.5 trillion
White House: First Lady Melania Trump’s Fostering the Future Together assembles leaders from 45 nations and 28 tech entities

Congress

House Science Committee: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) raises alarm over terms of Commerce Department equity stake in USA Rare Earth, condemns Lutnick conflict of interest
E&E News: Key Democrat plans to sponsor nuclear moratorium for New York
E&E News: House Democrats to unveil sweeping clean energy bill
E&E News: Bipartisan duo unveils geothermal financing bill

Science, Society, and the Economy

The Guardian: Please drive carefully: Scientists plan to transport volatile antimatter for the first time
Physics World: Love, Tito’s: Vodka maker funds physics research
Nature: How I turned online misogyny about my PhD into momentum for my career (perspective by Juliet Turner)

Education and Workforce

Stat: Researchers surveyed by STAT detail the scientific and personal toll of grant cuts: ‘This can’t be how it ends’
Chemical & Engineering News: Rapid-response grants help students hit by US funding cuts
SpaceNews: Investing in student programs is essential for America’s lead in space (perspective by Michael Lembeck and Mark Gittleman)
Chronicle of Higher Education: Private colleges are getting stricter about student speech
Chronicle of Higher Education: How to prepare for when ICE shows up on campus (perspective by Dan Berger and Stephen Yale-Loehr)
Physics World: Will the demise of the US penny damage science education? (perspective by Robert Crease)

Research Management

GAO: Federal information transparency: Action needed to improve efficiency and effectiveness and enhance program integrity (report)
Scholarly Kitchen: Academic freedom under pressure: What academic publishers can do (perspective by Ilyas Saliba and Lou Peck)
Science: Analysis: Why the research money isn’t flowing from NSF and NIH
Scholarly Kitchen: Guest post — could AI help fix peer review, or will it only make things worse? (perspective by Michael Bruno)

Labs and Facilities

NASA: NASA’s Roman observatory passes final major prelaunch tests
Fermilab: Fermilab drives progress for national AI Genesis Mission
Oak Ridge: ORNL merges AI, automation and leading-edge microscopes
Fermilab: Fermilab’s PIP-II accelerator project recognized at UK-US research showcase
Fermilab: Dave Newbold elected co-spokesperson of DUNE collaboration

Computing and Communications

Nature: Major Turing computing award goes to quantum science for first time
Brookings: Analyzing the passage of state-level AI bills
Nature: Rethinking AI’s role in survey research: From threat to collaboration (perspective by Melissa Wang and Xiaoli Su)
Scientific American: As AI keeps improving, mathematicians struggle to foretell their own future
Export Compliance Daily: BIS withdraws draft AI chip export control rule
ITIF: Comments to the US Treasury Department regarding the CFIUS known investor program and foreign investment review process
SpaceNews: Nvidia unveils AI computing module for space-based data centers
Space Review: Golden domes, fragile firms: The business risks of AI-enabled space infrastructure (perspective by Bharath Gopalaswamy and Daniel Dant)
Optics.org: imec-led consortium to develop chip roadmap ‘beyond CMOS’
ProPublica: Federal cyber experts thought Microsoft’s cloud was “a pile of shit.” They approved it anyway

Space

SpaceNews: NASA grappling with planetary science funding shortfall
Space Review: Artemis via the ISS? A breakout opportunity for kickstarting a sustainable cislunar economy (perspective by Madhu Thangavelu)
SpacePolicyOnline: Kshatriya hints NASA may reconsider South Pole for initial Artemis landings
Space Review: The next phase of space ambitions in Texas
SpaceNews: Canadian military invests in sovereign launch
SpaceNews: China signals new target for 2027 asteroid deflection test
Space Review: If China returns to the Moon first, will Americans care? (perspective by Dante Sanaei)

Weather, Climate, and Environment

AGU: AGU responds to NSF’s Dear Colleague Letter on NCAR
Ars Technica: National Academies of Sciences says no to demands it remove climate info
Nature: AI set to map risks of future climate disasters
E&E News: DOJ: Trump climate rollback won’t derail lawsuits against states
E&E News: Appeals court mulls whether GOP rescission has mooted climate grant dispute
E&E News: Meet the lawyers powering DOJ’s environment fight against states
E&E News: Biden-era climate official ends House bid

Energy

ProPublica: DOGE goes nuclear: How Trump invited Silicon Valley into America’s nuclear power regulator
American Nuclear Society: 2025 annual report cards out for US reactors
Exchange Monitor: Up to 4 pilot reactors to go critical by July, Senate panel told
E&E News: Nuclear official casts doubt on reactor bailout plan
Scientific American: The Pentagon is backing nuclear waste recycling for long-lasting military power sources

Defense

Scientific American: The Iran war disrupts global helium supply and artificial intelligence chip makers
ChinaTalk: AI and nukes (interview with Pranay Vaddi and Chris McGuire)
The Conversation: Iran’s nuclear materials and equipment remain a danger in an active war zone (perspective by Matthew Bunn)
DefenseScoop: Golden Dome budget plan gets $10B plus-up to accelerate space capabilities
FedScoop: FAA aims to build better defenses against cyber, quantum threats
Inside Defense: Government spending on dual-use defense tech trails private investment as production needs grow more urgent
DefenseScoop: Pentagon’s AARO quietly held an invite-only workshop to help shape the future of UAP research
DefenseScoop: Inside a ‘first of its kind’ counter-drone laser test in the American desert
MIT Technology Review: The Pentagon is planning for AI companies to train on classified data, defense official says
Wired: Justice Department says Anthropic can’t be trusted with warfighting systems

Biomedical

Nature: NIH pivots away from agency-directed science
Chronicle of Higher Education: Why is the NIH abandoning science? (perspective by Elizabeth Ginexi)
NIH: NIH invests $115 million in human-based research to reduce use of animal models
FedScoop: CDC releases AI strategy, guidance with eye toward ‘agentic’ uses
Scientific American: Americans’ trust in the CDC’s vaccine recommendations declines markedly under Trump
Scientific American: Judge temporarily blocks key parts of RFK, Jr.’s effort to overhaul US childhood vaccines

International Affairs

Nature: China could be the world’s biggest public funder of science within two years
Bloomberg: UK to invest £1 billion into quantum computing research, trials
Financial Times: UK’s nuclear research body consults on plans to cut about 200 jobs
Bloomberg: Chinese partnerships with European universities stir security concerns
Science|Business: India is moving towards joining Horizon Europe, says government think tank
Science|Business: Commission postpones European Innovation Act
Science|Business: ERC chief welcomes parliamentary support for funder’s independence
Nature: ‘Unaffordable’ visa price hike threatens Australia’s researcher pipeline