Federal agencies look to add anti-DEI contract requirements

Federal agencies are moving to implement a March executive order blocking federal contractors from engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion activities. The agencies are seeking comment on the proposed contract language put forth in the executive order, which states that contractors will “not engage in any racially discriminatory DEI activities” and requires contractors to provide any information the agency requests to assess compliance. It would also make contractors responsible for ensuring their subcontractors’ compliance. The comment period closes on July 6, after which the agencies may issue a rule implementing the proposed contract language. The Trump administration has made clear its intent to end DEI activities across the federal government, which the order says are inefficient, unethical, and illegal. A coalition of higher education and trade associations filed a lawsuit against Trump’s executive order on April 20. The lawsuit argues that the order unlawfully equates DEI with racial discrimination and violates the First Amendment. The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council published implementation guidance on the order on April 17, including a very fast implementation timeline that states that all agencies should aim to modify their existing contracts to include the new contract language by July 24.

National Academies scientists decry NSF board firings to Congress

Over one thousand members of the National Academies signed an open letter asking Congress to call for the reinstatement of the 22 National Science Board members that the White House fired in late April. “This dismantling of a critical national advisory body is but one of many such actions taken by the current administration that deprives our government of independent, apolitical, oversight and expert advice,” the letter states. The letter also calls for the appointment of new members, who must be “eminent” in science-related fields and chosen “solely on the basis of established records of distinguished service,” to fill board seats that were vacant at the time of the firing. Stand Up for Science and other science-related organizations have endorsed the letter. The presidents of the National Academies issued a separate statement two weeks ago that praised NSB as a “cornerstone” of U.S. success but did not comment on the dismissal of its members.

House to release Energy-Water funding proposal

The House Appropriations Committee will release its Energy and Water Development bill ahead of its subcommittee bill markup on Friday. The bill covers the Department of Energy, including the National Nuclear Security Administration. The full committee is scheduled to mark up the bill next week. Energy and Water Development Subcommittee Ranking Member Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) criticized the proposed $1.1 billion (13%) cut to the Office of Science at an April hearing on DOE’s budget request. The request also proposes a 54% cut to biological and environmental research and $1.2 billion, not counted in the agency topline, to support three new AI supercomputers at DOE national labs. For NNSA, the agency proposes a 12% increase (over total fiscal year 2026 funding, which includes funds from the reconciliation bill enacted in July).

The House has so far released its Commerce-Justice-Science bill, which proposes cuts for most of the science agencies it covers, though they are not as deep as the president’s proposed cuts. The House Appropriations Committee will host a full markup of the CJS bill on Wednesday. The committee has published the bill text, but not the bill report, which will provide more details on the House’s funding priorities. The bills for the Defense Department and the Interior Department are forthcoming.

Also on our radar

• A USDA policy released in April restricts agency-funded research from being published in journals that use “predatory practices” or whose publisher has ties to “a foreign country of concern.”
• Last week, NIST issued, then pulled, an announcement of new deals with Google, Microsoft, and xAI to evaluate AI models before they are publicly released. A NIST spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
• NASA announced Brian Hughes as senior director of launch operations, a new role that will oversee launch operations at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Before this, Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland had operated the Wallops facility. House Science Democrats said Hughes “personally directed the agency’s illegal implementation of the White House budget last year” and previously raised concerns about building closures at Goddard.
• A GAO report projects that DOE will finish “nearly all” cleanup work of four radioactive contamination sites “decades faster” and for $4.8 billion less than the baseline estimate.
• House CCP Committee Chair John Moolenaar (R-MI) praised NSF for tightening research security measures in its advanced cyberinfrastructure program ACCESS. In January, Moolenaar asked NSF to revoke access to the program “for all Chinese entities.”
• House Science Committee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) asked GAO to examine NSF’s information collection on national STEM workforce needs.
• The House Armed Services Committee rescheduled a hearing on DOD science, technology, and innovation to this Thursday.
• Further review of the Trump administration’s FY27 budget request will take place this week in the Senate and the House, including reviews of the DOD, Air Force, Navy, Department of the Interior, FDA, and EPA proposals. The Senate Armed Services Committee will also review DOE and NNSA’s atomic energy defense activities. (See the events calendar below for links)

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Your support keeps our community informed on the latest science policy news.

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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, May 11

Stimson: Modeling crises: AI’s role in disaster risk management and humanitarian action
3:30 - 5:00 pm

Brookings: US-China competition: Policy priorities from Capitol Hill
4:00 - 4:45 pm

Hoover: Powering global cooperation: Innovation, security, and geopolitics in a changing energy landscape
4:30 - 6:00 pm PT

Tuesday, May 12

SBA: America’s Seed Fund Week (continues through Thursday)

FLC: National meeting (continues through Thursday)

House: DOD FY27 budget hearing
8:00 am, Appropriations Committee

Stimson: Navigating the transition: Policy frameworks for AI and the next generation of labor
9:30 - 11:00 am

NSF SECURE Center: Authorship and research security workshop (repeats May 14 at 1:00 pm)
10:00 - 11:00 am

Senate: Library of Congress FY27 budget request
10:00 am, Appropriations Committee

Senate: Posture of the Army in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY27 and the Future Years Defense Program
11:00 am, Armed Services Committee

Mitchell Institute: Webinar with Commander of the US Space Command, Gen. Stephen Whiting
1:30 - 2:30 pm

House: US Navy and Marine Corps budget hearing
2:00 pm, Appropriations Committee

NSF SECURE Center: AI and analytics for smarter research security webinar
4:00 pm

Senate: Air Force modernization in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY27 and the Future Years Defense Program
4:30 pm, Armed Services Committee

Wednesday, May 13

National Academies: Bridging horizons for planetary healthspan symposium (continues through Friday)

CSPO: Rethinking science, policy speaker series: Using a large language model-based tool to examine sponsor influence in health research
9:00 - 10:30 am

Senate: DOE and NNSA atomic energy defense activities in review of FY27 Defense Authorization Request and the Future Years Nuclear Security Program
9:30 am, Armed Services Committee

Senate: Nuclear Regulatory Commission FY27 budget request
10:00 am, Environment and Public Works Committee

Senate: Hearings to examine whistleblower testimony on COVID
10:00 am, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

House: Department of the Interior FY27 budget request
10:00 am, Natural Resources Committee

Satellite Industry Association: 2026 State of the Satellite Industry report briefing
10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Senate: Environmental Protection Agency FY27 budget request
10:30 am, Appropriations Committee

Senate: Food and Drug Administration FY27 budget request
10:30 am, Appropriations Committee

House: Full committee markup of the FY27 Commerce, Justice, Science bill
11:00 am, Appropriations Committee

Aspen Institute: Getting a job in policy
11:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT

New America: AI, higher education, and the future of knowledge
12:00 - 1:00 pm

AEI: Priority technologies: Ensuring US security and shared prosperity
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Cato: How America can unleash the next energy revolution: A fireside chat with Energy Secretary Chris Wright
2:00 - 3:00 pm

Senate: General Services Administration FY27 budget request
2:00 pm, Appropriations Committee

Thursday, May 14

Universities Research Association: Research Policy Forum: The role of philanthropic investment for university research

AEI: Can accountability strengthen higher education’s economic promise?
9:15 am - 12:00 pm

National Academies: A vision for the Manufacturing USA program in 2030 and 2035: Report release webinar
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

AEI: What now for federal education research?
2:00 - 3:00 pm

Mitchell Institute: Webinar with Director of Plans and Programs at the U.S. Space Force, Col. Christopher ‘Trigger’ Fernengel
2:30 - 3:30 pm

House: Science, technology, and innovation posture of the Department of Defense
3:00 pm, Armed Services Committee

Friday, May 15

House: Subcommittee markup of FY27 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Bill
9:00 am, Appropriations Committee

Sunday, May 17

AGU: The Astrobiology Science Conference (continues through May 22)

Monday, May 18

Stimson: Iran and the bomb: The origins and trajectory of the Iranian nuclear program
12:00 - 1:00 pm

National Academies: Reenvisioning the future of STEM research at emerging research institutions: Structures and models of success
2:00 - 3:30 pm

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

Job Openings

◆NSF: Early-career positions (ongoing)
◆New York University: Associate director, research data management and security (ongoing)
◆Quanta: Science writing fellow (ongoing)
FAS: Senior manager, climate tech and innovation (ongoing)
APLU: Assistant vice president for governmental affairs (ongoing)
AIP: Director of science policy news (ongoing)
Science Philanthropy Alliance: Civic science fellow (ongoing)
AAS: Editor in chief (May 11)
DOE: Associate director, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (May 11)
◆NIST: Identity standards lead (May 11)
DOE: Associate director for finance and budget officer, ARPA–E (May 18)
Monmouth University: Director, Urban Coast Institute (May 18)
◆NASA: Laboratories, development, and testing division chief (May 18)
◆ONR: Associate director of research for systems (June 3)
ANS: Congressional science and engineering fellowship (June 5)

Solicitations

◆NSF: Research security mentorship program interest form (ongoing)
FCC: RFC on Spectrum Abundance for Weird Space Stuff proposed rule (May 11)
National Academies: Call for experts, Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (May 11)
NOAA: Solicitation of nominations for membership on the Ocean Research Advisory Panel (May 14)
◆DOE: Call for nominations, Scientific User Facility Division Director for the Basic Energy Sciences Program (May 18)
NIST: RFC on CHIPS Workforce Solution participant data collection (May 18)
NASA: RFC on NASA Front Door (May 19)
◆AAS: Call for Education Committee members (May 21)
NIH: RFC on NIH-wide strategic plan for fiscal years 2027-2031 (May 26)
NRC: RFC on regulation of byproduct material associated with fusion machines (May 27)
NRC: RFC on licensing requirements for microreactors (June 15)
◆AAS: Nominations for 2027 AAS prizes (June 30)
◆NASA: RFC on information collection, addressing DEI discrimination by federal contractors (July 6)

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: Trump wants big boost to DOJ environment division
FedScoop: OPM applies AI to modernize federal job description, retirement processes
Politico: The federal Oscars are having trouble finding candidates
Roll Call: GOP friction over shutdown finale (podcast)

Science, Society, and the Economy

AAU: National Science Board dismissals call attention to broader issue of federal scientific advisory panels
Chemical & Engineering News: Distrust in science is not prevalent. We still need to address it (editorial)
CSET: Government-funded research seeds entire industries. What would be lost without it (perspective by Steph Batalis et al.)

Education and Workforce

Chemical & Engineering News: As visa rules tighten, impacts to researchers and US science escalate
ACE: Letter to State Department on processing visas for international students and scholars
AFGE: AFGE vows to fight termination of State Department employees
Nature: Meet the academics refusing to use generative AI

Research Management

Inside Higher Ed: Frankencitations ravage the academic countryside (interview with Ben Williamson)
Issues in Science and Technology: Downsizing vs. streamlining research regulations (perspectives)
Nature: AI agents in research: When productivity comes at the cost of apprenticeship (perspective by Jing Hu and Tony Huiquan Zhang)
Nature: Elsevier vs. Meta: First science publisher sues over scraped research papers
Nature: First AI tool to detect suspicious peer reviews rolled out by academic publisher
Nature: How much of the scientific literature is generated by AI?
Nature: Responses to the AI grant flood must prioritize fairness as part of excellence (editorial)

Labs and Facilities

HPCwire: UC names Katherine Yelick to head Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Lab: Injuries at Los Alamos continue to decline
Oak Ridge National Lab: A different kind of leader: Scaling impact in geospatial science
DOD: Pentagon lab day demonstrates best of War Department research
Scientific American: US neutrino megaproject takes shape in abandoned gold mine
DOE: NNSA completes new facility to strengthen nuclear security and modernize weapons infrastructure

Computing and Communications

GAO: Artificial intelligence: Uses and risks for small business contracting and innovation research (report)
Bloomberg: The world is scrambling to remake semiconductor supply chains

Space

Ars Technica: Here’s what has to happen if NASA wants to land on the Moon every month
Bloomberg: Former Trump NASA head Bridenstine to lead startup Quantum Space
Bloomberg: How NASA’s chief plans to bring back the moonwalk and beat China (audio interview with Jared Isaacman)
CSET: Space is critical infrastructure—it needs an alliance to guard it (perspective by Kathleen Curlee and Brian Golden)
American Nuclear Society: NASA takes step toward ion engines powered by fission reactors
SpaceNews: Anthropic to consider using SpaceX orbital data center satellites
Scientific American: Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin Moon lander completes a crucial test as race with SpaceX heats up
SpaceNews: Anduril teams with commercial space firms, Sandia Lab on Golden Dome interceptor program
SpaceNews: Paraguay signs the Artemis Accords

Weather, Climate, and Environment

Federal News Network: Three-quarters of USDA researchers tapped to relocate tell union they’re not going
NPR: Researchers say closing a top USDA research lab will slow responses to honeybee deaths
Eos: Number of scientific publications from EPA authors has dropped during Trump administration

Energy

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: AI nuclear decision making has a data problem (perspective by Ulysse Richard and Yorgo El Moubayed)
American Nuclear Society: Fusion consortium established to advance private-sector fusion
GAO: Department of Energy: Action needed to approve advanced test reactor spent fuel plan (report)
Ars Technica: Trump administration cites national security in stalling 165 wind farms

Defense

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Beyond AI: What the Pentagon is missing with its trimmed ‘critical technologies’ list (perspective by Julie George)
Wired: Google DeepMind workers vote to unionize over military AI deals
Axios: Pentagon tech chief: No Anthropic resolution in sight
Breaking Defense: AI ‘blueprint’ coming soon to NGA to help ‘operationalize’ GEOINT
Breaking Defense: NATO needs policies, standards for sharing AI-enhanced geospatial intel: Official

Biomedical

Nature: NIH grant cuts disproportionately hit minority and female scientists
AGU: AGU joins letter from research community opposing cuts to NIH
The Guardian: ‘They know they’re safe’: Beagles saved from US research facility after protests
Stat: The cruise ship hantavirus outbreak is a warning sign to the US (perspective by Krutika Kuppalli)
Science: CDC leader calls for new journal to ‘elevate scientific rigor’

International Affairs

Science|Business: Make more use of Horizon Europe funding, Zaharieva tells university alliances
The Information: China’s national AI fund in talks to invest in DeepSeek
ITIF: China now produces nearly one-quarter of global output in advanced industries, new ITIF report finds
Science|Business: Science diplomacy lessons from a North Korean volcano (interview with James Hammond)