Science Policy This Week: November 10, 2025

What’s Ahead

The A.D. White Reading Room in Uris Library at Cornell University.

eflon / Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Cornell strikes deal to restore research funding

Cornell University announced an agreement with the federal government last week that restores the school’s terminated and suspended federal grants. The Trump administration said in April that it intended to freeze more than $1 billion in research funding for the school, while the university’s announcement states it has been subject to “more than $250 million in federal funding interruptions.” In return, Cornell agreed to pay the government $30 million over three years and spend another $30 million on “research programs that will directly benefit U.S. farmers through lower costs of production and enhanced efficiency, including but not limited to programs that incorporate AI and robotics.”

The university also agreed to provide the government with anonymized undergraduate admissions data and to continue complying with foreign gift and contract reporting, while the government agreed to “fairly consider all applications for federal funding submitted by Cornell... without disfavored or favored treatment,” and permanently close all pending investigations regarding Cornell’s compliance with anti-discrimination laws. The agreement runs until the end of 2028.

Cornell is the fourth Ivy League school to agree to terms aimed at staving off the Trump administration’s pressure campaign of grant cancellations and legal action. Columbia University agreed to pay a $200 million settlement, and Brown University committed to spending $50 million on workforce development programs. The University of Pennsylvania signed an agreement that did not include fines. Harvard has discussed a deal to restore research funding, though the university has since seen most or all of its terminated funding restored via court order. Other universities, including Princeton, remain affected by a wide-ranging freeze on federal funding.

Senate takes steps to end government shutdown

The Senate voted 60-40 late last night to advance a stopgap bill that would fund the government through Jan. 30. Eight senators who caucus with Democrats broke with the party to move forward a continuing resolution package that includes three full-year appropriations bills to fund legislative branch, veterans affairs, and food and agriculture programs through Sept. 30, 2026. The successful Senate vote clears a path for the government to reopen in the coming days, ending the longest government shutdown in history. The bill must still be passed by the Senate before going back to the House.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who voted in favor of the bill, pushed for provisions protecting federal workers to be included. As written, the bill prevents the federal government from carrying out any reductions-in-force until Jan. 30, requires the Trump administration to reverse RIFs it carried out during the shutdown, and promises back pay for furloughed employees.

The continuing resolution does not extend the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that prompted the impasse between Democrats and Republicans. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has committed to holding a separate vote on legislation to extend the subsidies after the government reopens.

DOE renews quantum research centers

The Department of Energy renewed its five National Quantum Information Science Research Centers last week, awarding $625 million in funding over five years, including $125 million from fiscal year 2025. The total matches the funding targets set in the National Quantum Initiative Act that established the centers in 2018. Each NQI center is led by an Office of Science national lab. Congress has expressed interest in reauthorizing the NQI Act. The House Science Committee advanced bipartisan reauthorization legislation in the previous Congress, but the bill did not reach a vote in the full House.

Meanwhile, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected 11 participants to advance to the second stage of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, which aims to assess whether a useful quantum computer can be produced by 2033. The selected companies, which include IBM, IonQ, and Atom Computing, will develop detailed R&D plans for quantum computers. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the latter two companies were considering deals with the Trump administration to exchange equity for at least $10 million in funding awards. The Commerce Department denied the report.

US sits out of UN climate summit

The Trump administration will not send any high-level representatives to COP30, the United Nations’ flagship climate conference running in Brazil this month. A White House spokesperson said the president “will not jeopardize our country’s economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries.” A bipartisan group of senators planned to attend but told E&E News last week that the government shutdown prevented them from traveling to the conference. Some U.S. governors, mayors, and other local leaders plan to attend.

The annual Conference of Parties (COP) brings the 197 countries that have agreed to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change together to update their plans to address climate change. Many of the countries attending have not yet submitted updated plans to cut emissions, and the UN found that those submitted would not be adequate to keep global temperatures within 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial temperatures, which is the main goal of the Paris Agreement signed at COP21 in 2015.

Also on our radar

Elsevier published a survey that found researchers are increasingly using AI despite concerns about its trustworthiness. The survey found that researchers’ views and use of AI vary widely between the U.S., UK, and China.
California’s hydrogen hub has paused operations following the Trump administration’s cancellation of $1.2 billion in federal funding last month. Republican senators are urging the DOE to preserve funding for hubs and carbon capture programs in their states.
The American Nuclear Society is holding its winter conference Monday through Wednesday. Sessions include a series discussing President Donald Trump’s executive orders on nuclear energy.