Science Policy This Week: June 8, 2026

What’s Ahead

President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office.

White House

Trump converts 8,000 federal workers to ‘at-will’ employees

The White House reclassified thousands of federal workers as Schedule Policy/Career last week, removing their civil service protections and making it much easier for agencies to fire them. President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the moves last Wednesday.

The Trump administration says this shift to at-will employment, which affects around 8,000 workers, is necessary to increase accountability and quickly address underperforming staff, but Democrats in Congress and labor unions representing federal workers say the Trump administration could use the new designation to carry out politically motivated firings. The executive order comes just a few weeks after the Trump administration laid out plans to require that all federal workers sign a nondisclosure agreement barring them from sharing “confidential” information.

Roles that will now be shifted to the Schedule Policy/Career designation include senior policy advisors at the National Institute of Standards and Technology; the chief of staff, policy advisors, and program manager roles roles at NOAA; grants management specialists at the National Science Foundation; program specialists at NASA; the deputy directors of for intramural and extramural research at the National Institutes of Health; and many more. Most of the roles targeted for reclassification by the Trump executive order are at the GS-15 level or higher , and the majority of reclassified roles are within the Department of War.

Trump signs AI order, Japan joins Genesis

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week creating a system for AI developers to voluntarily provide the government with 30 days of early access to their latest models. The order emphasizes that it does not create any mandatory “governmental licensing, preclearance, or permitting requirement for the development, publication, release, or distribution of new AI models, including frontier models.” The White House abruptly canceled the signing of a previous version of the order in late May that reportedly included more stringent requirements for AI companies.

The latest order calls for the creation of an “AI cybersecurity clearinghouse” to facilitate the sharing of “covered frontier models” with the federal government. A classified benchmarking process designed by the Department of Defense will determine which systems qualify as covered frontier models. The order also directs the Office of Management and Budget to identify federal grant programs that can support AI vulnerability detection and directs the attorney general to “prioritize” addressing AI-related cybercrime.

Also last week, the Department of Energy announced an AI research collaboration with Japan that the agency is promoting as the first international partnership under the Trump administration’s Genesis Mission. The U.S. and Japan will each contribute $500 million to the effort over the next five years. The agreement funds 11 teams that will “unite” 12 U.S. national labs and 12 Japanese research universities. It highlights planned collaborations on autonomous research, particle accelerator technologies, and other Genesis priorities.

Academies speech calls for prioritizing societal impact of basic research

The 2026 State of the Science speech last week highlighted potential paths to improve the research enterprise, including by rewarding university researchers based on economic and societal impact, aligning student work with industry needs, and using AI and robotics to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery. During the accompanying panel discussion, Ethan Klein, White House chief technology officer and associate director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, similarly expressed enthusiasm for the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission on AI and using basic research to pursue societally important applications.

The State of the Science speech began as an annual tradition in 2024, and this is the last such address from National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt before she leaves her position. McNutt has previously used the address to raise concerns that the U.S. is falling behind in scientific competition with China and must build up its domestic STEM workforce. McNutt briefly criticized the proposed rule published by the Office of Management and Budget, adding, “Frustrated and demoralized as many of us are right now, we must consider what is in our power as a research community to improve, while at the same time pushing back against inappropriate political interference in research.”

Also on our radar

Grants selected for NIH funding are reportedly undergoing additional review from HHS officials, according to Science.
The House Appropriations Committee will meet to consider its HHS and Education bill on Tuesday. The bill proposes level funding for NIH
DOE’s Science Advisory Committee will hold a town hall on Thursday to receive community input on a roadmap for investments and activities in quantum information science.
A National Academies committee tasked with studying the capabilities of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center will hold its first meeting this week. The future of the Goddard facility has become a flashpoint between the White House and Congressional Democrats.
The House Armed Services Committee advanced the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act last Thursday.
NSF is dismantling a huge deep-ocean observation system that is crucial for storm forecasts and early warning systems. Democratic senators said last week they opposed the move, and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), ranking member of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees NSF, said he would “fight back.”

Monday, June 8

Senate: Closed hearings to mark up the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act (continues through Wednesday)
Armed Services Committee

National Academies: Board on Science Education meeting (continues Tuesday)

Tuesday, June 9

SBAG: NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group meeting (continues through Thursday)

Wednesday, June 10

UN: Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space meeting (continues through June 18)

House: DOE FY27 budget request hearing
10:00 am, Science Committee

Opportunities

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

Job Openings

◆National Academies: Senior program officer, Science and Technology Policy and Law (ongoing)
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 (ongoing)
AAU: Senior director, data policy and institutional research (June 12)
◆AAAS: Project manager, Center for STEMM Education and Workforce (June 19)
◆AAAS: Senior editor (July 3)

Solicitations

◆SciLight: Call for science policy ideas for ‘The Science Fix’ project (ongoing)
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)
◆NASA: RFC on NASA Front Door (July 6)
OMB: RFC on regulation for federal financial assistance (July 13)
◆NOAA: Call for nominations for the Ocean Exploration Advisory Board (July 17)

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