Trump administration seeks total authority over federal grants

The Office of Management and Budget proposed a rule last week that aims to deliver on President Donald Trump’s August executive order giving political appointees the final say over grant decisions across the federal government — including the power to terminate grants that do not meet agency priorities. OMB is accepting comments on the proposed rule until July 13.

Under the rule, all discretionary federal awards would be required to pass a new “pre-issuance review” conducted by political appointees. The appointees conducting the reviews would be instructed to use their “independent judgment” and not routinely defer to the recommendations of others. The rule states that it does not “discourage” the use of peer review processes so long as they “remain advisory and are not ministerially ratified, routinely deferred to, or otherwise treated as de facto binding.”

The criteria for the pre-issuance review would give appointees broad discretion to block awards. For example, awards could be blocked for promoting “anti-American values” or failing to “demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities.” The pre-issuance review would also give preference to institutions with lower indirect cost rates. The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to cap universities’ indirect cost rates but has been blocked by courts and Congress.

The rule contains a host of other proposed changes, including:

• Active and future awards could be terminated at any time if “found to be inconsistent with program goals or agency priorities.”
• Agencies would be instructed to prioritize giving awards to institutions that “have demonstrated success in implementing Gold Standard Science.”
• Federal awards would no longer be allowed to cover publication costs, processing charges, or open access fees, unless required by statute or approved in advance by the agency. The use of funds to attend conferences would require express agency approval in the award.
• More countries would be subject to bans on award collaboration. All foreign entities seeking to collaborate with U.S. researchers would be subject to tighter restrictions.
• Applicants would have to pass “risk assessments” that consider, among other things, their memberships and affiliations with other organizations.
• Membership costs and professional dues would require prior approval from agencies.
• Awards may not “fund, promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate” diversity, equity, and inclusion or “gender ideology.”
• Agencies would be encouraged to increase award lengths to reduce the administrative burden of recompeting.

The proposal has been met with alarm from congressional Democrats and science groups — including the advocacy group Stand Up for Science, which is hosting a meeting to discuss the proposed rule tomorrow.

2027 NDAA markup on the books for House and Senate

The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to hold a markup of the fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday. The latest draft of the bill, released last week, recommends $1.15 trillion for the Department of Defense — mirroring the White House’s request. Both the request and the House proposal seek an additional $350 billion through a separate reconciliation process in order to meet President Donald Trump’s demand for a $1.5 trillion defense budget. However, the outcome of that reconciliation process remains uncertain.

The House bill recommends $219 billion for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation within DOD, essentially level with the administration’s request. The House bill also recommends $400 million for the Golden Dome missile defense project, with a request that the defense secretary submit an alternative plan for procuring munitions to support the missile defense initiative. The administration requested $17.5 billion for Golden Dome, the majority of which would have to be funded through reconciliation. The Senate has not yet published its companion bill, but the Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to begin its markup of the bill next week.

NSF slows research funds

The National Science Foundation reportedly placed holds on ongoing and new research funding for four top research universities for almost two months. Nature and the New York Times have since reported that some of that money has started flowing again following media inquiries. According to Nature, Duke, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are among the universities affected by the freeze, and 85% of the affected proposals were in math, physical sciences, and engineering, including several related to quantum information science.

Also last week, the science advocacy group Grant Witness reported that 18 of the University of California, Berkeley’s NSF grants were “quietly” suspended in April because they allegedly failed to disclose foreign funding, though the affected researchers say they never received foreign funding.

Also on our radar

• NSF published an RFI seeking input on the program design and topical focuses of its new Tech Accelerators initiative, which will create investor teams to in turn fund the commercialization of basic research in four technology areas: agriculture, materials, ocean, and scientific instrumentation.
• JP Allain, who was appointed the inaugural director of DOE’s new Office of Fusion two months ago, is leaving the agency. DOE did not name a new director in the announcement. Allain served as DOE’s Fusion Energy Sciences associate director from 2023 to 2025.
• Following reporting from Science that NIH is imposing stricter rules on foreign co-authorship, NIH announced that it has increased oversight of foreign collaborations but has not expanded its definition for “foreign components.”
• A group of Democratic senators published a letter last week accusing the Trump administration of allowing cases to pile up at the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
• NIST is renaming its Artificial Intelligence Safety Institution Consortium (AISIC) as the NIST Artificial Intelligence Consortium, which will now focus on “AI measurement, innovation and adoption.” The agency again invited organizations to submit letters of interest if they wish to collaborate.

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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, June 1

American Nuclear Society: Annual conference (continues through Wednesday)

National Academies: Committee on Planetary Protection meeting (continues Tuesday)

Tuesday, June 2

National Academies: Space Studies Board, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, and Board on Physics and Astronomy joint meeting spring 2026 (continues through Friday)

Explore Mars: Harnessing the Moon to enable Mars
10:00 - 11:30 am

NDIA: Tech 101: Small modular reactors
1:00 - 2:00 pm

National Academies: The State of the Science address 2026
3:00 - 6:00 pm

Wednesday, June 3

AEI: How AI is reshaping American enterprise — and being shaped by it
9:00 am - 10:30 am

Senate: Plausible mechanisms of COVID-19 injections causing cancer and attacks on scientific publications
2:30 pm, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee

Thursday, June 4

NOAA: Science Advisory Board meeting
10:00 am - 3:00 pm

House: Medicines and IP: Balancing innovation and access
10:00 am, Judiciary Committee

NSF: Introduction to NSF X-Labs funding opportunity on quantum systems: Interconnects and integrated photonics
2:00 - 3:00 pm

Friday, June 5

No events.

Monday, June 8

No events.

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

Job Openings

◆ACS: Congressional fellowship (ongoing)
FAS: Senior manager, climate tech and innovation (ongoing)
APLU: Assistant vice president for governmental affairs (ongoing)
AIP: Director of science policy news (ongoing)
◆National Academies: Senior program officer, Center for Advancing Science and Technology (CAST) (ongoing)
Navy: Associate director of research for systems, Office of Naval Research (June 3)
◆Senate: Research assistant, Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Democrats (June 3)
ANS: Congressional science and engineering fellowship (June 5)
◆AAU: Senior director, data policy and institutional research (June 12)

Solicitations

◆NIST: Call for letters of interest to join NIST AI Consortium (ongoing)
NRC: RFC on licensing requirements for microreactors (June 15)
APS: Joseph A. Burton Forum Award nominations (June 15)
USGS: Call for nominations for the Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee (June 18)
APS: Dwight Nicholson Medal for Outreach nominations (June 26)
◆NSF: RFC on Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) program (June 27)
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.

Congress

Science: Lawmakers propose banning all US-Chinese research collaborations
E&E News: House plans vote on geothermal energy package
Sen. Patty Murray: Following Murray (D-WA), Warren (D-MA) request, independent government watchdog expands investigation into Trump admin efforts to dismantle Education Department
House Science Committee: Chairman Babin (R-TX) issues statement on New Glenn incident at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Science, Society, and the Economy

Wired: Department of Labor tells employees to report anyone prioritizing DEI
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: The Trump administration’s reckless attack on radiation protection will have long-term consequences for public safety (perspective by Frank von Hippel)
NPR: The movie ‘Pressure’ leans into the drama of high-stakes weather forecasts

Education and Workforce

Chemical & Engineering News: Court upholds pause on DEI grant terminations at University of California
University World News: Over 18% of Yale faculty fear arrest over teaching
OPM: Elimination of time-in-grade

Labs and Facilities

HPCwire: Argonne launches 1st large-scale AI inference service for open science
Berkeley Lab: Reiner Kruecken named Berkeley Lab’s associate laboratory director for physical sciences
Sandia National Lab: As W88 production ends, Sandia looks to next phase

Computing and Communications

Wired: Illinois lawmakers just passed America’s strongest AI safety bill
Breaking Defense: In cyber race against China, CYBERCOM bets on ‘quality over quantity’
HPCwire: UT launches Knoxville Quantum Accelerator to advance Tennessee’s future
HPCwire: MIT launches Quantum Systems Laboratory with $25M Massachusetts backing
Politico: AI companies want power fast. The electric grid’s gatekeeper wants them to learn the rules

Space

BBC News: Exploding rocket casts doubts over NASA’s Moon plans
Scientific American: Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket explodes in massive fireball, imperiling NASA Moon missions
Space Review: Reassessing NASA procurement strategy: A hybrid approach
SpaceNews: Artemis 2 captured the world’s attention. It should change how we think about supply chains (perspective by Paul Harris)
NASA: NASA to announce Artemis III crew, provide mission progress update
SpaceNews: FAA requires mishap investigation into latest Starship launch
Bloomberg: EU satellite proposal makes limited room for Musk’s Starlink

Weather, Climate, and Environment

E&E News: US refuses to budge on environmental impact of tech, regulating Big Tech at G7
E&E News: EPA’s new science office comes under Congress’ gaze
New York Times: SEC proposes to kill climate change disclosure rule

Energy

E&E News: DOE chooses companies for possible use of plutonium to fuel nuclear reactors
Carbon Brief: AI boom means US is now ‘investing more’ in fossil-fuel power than China
E&E News: Fossil fuel industry engaged in ‘judicial influence,’ climate lawyers tell Republicans
E&E News: DOE moves to sunset ‘outdated’ regulations

Defense

Breaking Defense: SPACECOM exploring tech for future offensive cislunar ops: Chief Scientist
Scientific American: Trump plan to give start-ups plutonium harvested from Cold War–era nuclear weapons is risky, experts say
DOD News: War Department signs $9.7B technology deal with Dell for Microsoft services
Inside Defense: House panel proposes eliminating SDA, Space RCO in sweeping Space Force acquisition overhaul

Biomedical

COGR: Response to the RFI on a framework for the NIH-wide strategic plan for fiscal years 2027-2031
Wired: These Ebola researchers are stuck in US due to Trump’s funding cuts
Politico: Montana senator wants monkey bite, and lab where it happened, investigated
Nature: Move over, AlphaFold: Open source model predicts shape of 1 billion proteins

International Affairs

Export Compliance Daily: Greer: US-China AI dialogue won’t include export control talks
Science|Business: Macron urges Europe to accelerate quantum and chips efforts
SpaceNews: European space industry warns EU Space Act could slow competitiveness
Science|Business: Horizon Europe negotiations shape up for October start