Trump scraps leaked plan for NIH grants takeover

A White House proposal to exert more control over science funding foundered in the Senate last week. Following news reports, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) both opposed a proposed executive order that would have created an oversight council giving Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought a veto over all National Institutes of Health research grants. News of the White House backtracking on the plan, at least for now, soon followed.

Wider OMB efforts to control NIH grants remain blocked until Dec. 11, when the current continuing resolution spending deal ends. That stopgap bill blocked a proposed OMB rule that would revise the Uniform Guidance to give political appointees veto power over federal grants. In a Tuesday letter to Vought and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, Collins noted the proposed council’s similarity to the proposed rule change. She called on the White House to offer a legislative proposal to reform NIH, if needed, rather than pursuing an executive order.

Scientific organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science broadly opposed the NIH council, which was reported only by news leaks. A White House spokesperson told FYI last week that the Trump administration “remains committed to the core mission of the NIH” and recent news reports were “baseless speculation.”

Late on Friday, the White House separately announced a “pocket rescission” of $810 million in unspent federal funds, including $28 million in Department of Health and Human Services research grant money. The move drew a rebuke from Collins as “a clear violation of the law.”

USGCRP director pick is illegal, House Science Democrat says

The White House naming a geochemist from outside the federal government to lead the US Global Change and Research Program violates its governing law, says one top lawmaker. Matthew Wielicki, a climate science critic and former professor of geological sciences at the University of Alabama, was appointed director of the program in July. USGCRP oversees federal research on environmental change, including the National Climate Assessment, which is the preeminent US report on climate change. The law governing the program requires that its members are permanent federal employees. The letter from House Science Committee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) also states that Wielicki is “fundamentally unserious as a climate researcher” and “has demonstrated an aggressive unwillingness to collaborate with other scientists.” The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy did not respond to a request for comment.

Wielicki resigned from the University of Alabama in 2023. Climate scientists have criticized the administration’s decision to put him in charge of USGCRP. Lofgren urged OSTP to replace Wielicki and requested information on his appointment, any USGCRP meetings, and the plan for the sixth NCA. In April 2025, the Trump administration eliminated federal funding for USGCRP and dismissed the authors of the sixth NCA, which was then in progress.

Last week of Congressional activity before midterms

The Senate will be in session through Friday, closing ahead of the Nov. 3 election with a handful of technology-related hearings and a likely vote on a data centers bill. The House is in recess, aside from a single session scheduled for Oct. 1.

In hearings, the Senate Armed Services Committee will receive a Tuesday update from the Congressional Budget Office on the proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. (The CBO estimated its cost at $1.2 trillion over 20 years, in a May report.) On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing on AI safety, responding to recent reports of agents hacking business networks that have alarmed the industry. A Senate Health committee hearing to consider the nomination of Nicole Saphier to become Surgeon General, as well as two other Health and Human Services nominees, has been postponed.

Both houses of Congress will return Nov. 9, after the election. They will face a 2027 federal budget decision ahead of a Dec. 11 deadline.

Also on our radar

• House Science Committee members introduced a bipartisan fusion bill last week that would implement last year’s Fusion Forward report recommendations and codify the Office of Fusion within DOE. It recommends $10 billion in federal funding to accelerate the commercialization of fusion energy.
• The Department of Education and the Department of State opened foreign funding investigations into Duke University and the University of North Dakota earlier this month, stating they failed to accurately disclose foreign gifts and contracts.
• China and the US are pulling ahead of the rest of the world in producing and recruiting AI talent, with China in the lead, a Carnegie China analysis suggests.
• Bayh-Dole Act-enabled technology transfers from federally supported university and nonprofit research organizations added trillions of dollars to US gross domestic output between 1996 and 2025, according to a report commissioned by the Bayh-Dole Coalition.
• An agreement between Greenland, Denmark, and the US allowing Golden Dome missile defense operations acknowledged “mutual scientific and educational cooperation and exchanges” between the Arctic-bordering nations.
• The National Academies are soliciting experts for a new consensus study on DOE’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program. Suggestions are open until Oct. 30.
• FDA Commissioner nominee Heidi Overton faced skeptical questioning at a Senate confirmation hearing over her views on abortion and vaccines.

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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.

The House is in recess until Nov. 9, aside from a single session scheduled for Oct. 1. The Senate will remain in session through Oct. 2 before recessing until Nov. 9. Midterm elections will take place Nov. 3.

Monday, September 28

Stimson: The second Trump/Xi summit: Takeaways from the US, China, and Russia
9:30 am

AMS/AGU: 25th biennial AMS/AGU heads and chairs meeting - part 1 (part 2 on Monday, Oct. 19)
11:00 am - 2:00 pm

New America: Higher education after Trump
12:00 - 1:30 pm

Tuesday, September 29

COSSA: An update on this year’s major science policy developments
2:00 pm

Senate: Oversight of the US Patent and Trademark Office
2:30 pm, Judiciary Committee

Senate: Update on Golden Dome
4:00 pm, Armed Services Committee

AMS: Opening the free atmosphere: Balloons, storms and the birth of modern forecasting
4:00 pm

Wednesday, September 30

Senate: Meeting to consider 54 bills relating to radiation, energy, environment, and conservation
10:00 am, Energy and Natural Resources Committee

FCC: Open commission meeting on spectrum and other matters
10:30 am

ITIF: China’s biopharma rise: How America should respond
2:00 - 3:30 pm

Senate: Rogue AI: Securing the homeland against AI agent attacks
2:30 pm, Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee

CHSTM: The United States of Disaster: Disaster science in America since 2001
6:00 - 7:30 pm

Thursday, October 1

New America: Sixty years of the Higher Education Act
10:00 - 11:30 am

NDIA: Logistics management division meeting
11:00 am - 12:30 pm

NSF Secure Center: Ask SECURE community quarterly roundtable
1:00 pm

Foundation for American Innovation: American Innovation Gala
5:00 pm

Friday, October 2

CHSTM: Forms of life or chemicals? Microbes and the US regulation of biotechnology
1:30 - 3:00 pm

Monday, October 5

Belfer Center: Tackling the grid reliability and affordability challenge in the age of AI
12:00 - 1:15 pm

Stimson: Progress, power, and peace at the AI frontier
2:00 pm

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

Job Openings

◆RSNA: Government relations manager (ongoing)
APS: Head of scientific programs (ongoing)
◆AAMC: Senior director, science policy and regulation (ongoing)
◆AAF: Technology and innovation policy analyst (ongoing)
◆ICF: Public policy researcher (ongoing)
IDA: Research analyst, science policy (Sept. 30)
AIP: Science policy fellowship, State Department (Oct. 1)
AAAS: Project manager, Center for Scientific Responsibility and Justice (Oct. 1)
AAAS: Program director, Center for Scientific Evidence in Public Issues (Oct. 8)
AAAS: Pathways to Policy Fellowship (Nov. 1)
AIP: Science policy fellowship, Congress (Dec. 1)

Solicitations

FAS: Public Impact S&T Initiative open call (ongoing)
NIH: RFI on proposed changes to reporting outcomes from NIH peer review (Oct. 13)
NIST: RFI on modernizing the National Vulnerability Database in the age of artificial intelligence (Oct. 13)
NIH: RFC on draft NIH Biosafety Policy for Research Involving Biohazards (Oct. 19)
HHS: RFI on electromagnetic fields, radiofrequency radiation, and wireless radiation exposure (Oct. 21)
NSF: RFC on notice of intent to integrate three NCSES workforce surveys (Oct. 27)
NSF: RFI on identifying the next generation of X-Labs topics (Oct. 30)
◆National Academies: Call for committee members for study evaluating DOE’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development program (Oct. 30)
DHS: RFC on proposed rule eliminating the discretionary 60-day grace period for H-1B and other visa holders (Nov. 10)
◆USGS: Call for nominations to the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (Nov. 16)
NIST: RFI on future needs for medical metrology and standards for medical imaging, devices, diagnostics and therapy (Nov. 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

Washington Post: Scientific research is an economic blessing. Keep Trump cronyism out (editorial)
Good Science Project: Policy impoundment (perspective by Christopher Marcum)
Wall Street Journal: RFK Jr.’s enhanced security was funded with money from Minority Health Office
BBC News: Trump reveals millions of dollars’ worth of share deals in big tech and AI
White House: Presidential message on National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week

Congress

Washington Post: I’m a Republican senator. America needs more science, not less (perspective by Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA))
House CCP Committee: Chair John Moolenaar (R-MI): Trump admin right to investigate foreign funding at Duke and the University of North Dakota
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD): Van Hollen, more than 15 Senate Democrats push Trump to negotiate AI guardrails with Xi
Politico: Letitia James, fellow AGs push Congress on AI safety
Export Compliance Daily: Senate Democrats: Don’t sell more advanced chips to China
C-SPAN: Senate committee meets to consider granting Dr. Fauci’s special assistant immunity to testify
Senate Appropriations Committee: Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) urges administration to spend Global Health Programs funding

Science, Society, and the Economy

Science: Science still has expertise; what it’s lost is authority (perspective by Holden Thorp)
Research Policy: Public views on the use of AI in scientific research (report)
New York Times: What can climate change and COVID teach us about AI doom? (perspective by David Wallace-Wells)

Education and Workforce

Nature: In praise of human teachers: Universities must resist outsourcing everything to AI (editorial)
ACE: Comments to DHS on proposed H-1B petition fee
Financial Times: The next generation of American scientists is fading away (perspective by Anjana Ahuja)
New York Times: The climate scientist Kate Marvel sheds light on why she left NASA this year
FEDweek: OPM sets cap on top two ratings levels of 40 percent; not a “target”

Research Management

Science: NIH details $170 million biomedical research reproducibility effort
JAMA: On becoming a gold standard scientist — the importance of pilot clinical trials (perspective by James Feinstein et al.)
Nature: Hundreds of ‘free’ academic journals have started charging fees
Physics World: How scientific publishers are fighting back against fraudulent papermills
Washington Post: Using AI, a professor wrote 200 papers this year. Researchers are alarmed
Retraction Watch: Misconduct case dropped against AI expert after claims of AI use in recent book
Undark Magazine: AI presents science with a ‘Ship of Theseus’ problem (perspective by C. Brandon Ogbunu)

Computing and Communications

TechCrunch: OpenAI forms math advisory group as its AI resolves more than 100 open problems
Bloomberg: OpenAI pushes US to lead effort to set global standards for AI
Bloomberg: Trump rejects push for international pact to manage AI risks
HPCwire: AI won’t destroy us, but it will improve our lives, DOE’s Darío Gil says
Politico: White House asks OpenAI and Anthropic to hold new models from UK testers until US review
Bloomberg: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to brief UN Security Council on AI
New York Times: Where is the US beating China on AI, and where is it lagging?
Scientific American: China’s open AI models are testing America’s approach to AI safety

Space

Scientific American: NASA Goddard’s shrinking workforce could stifle future space missions, experts say
NASA Watch: “Lengthy note” from Jared Isaacman to NASA
NASA: NASA selects far-infrared telescope as first in new mission class
NASA: NASA welcomes Côte d’Ivoire as newest Artemis Accords signatory
Physics World: How the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will turn the sky into a dataset (perspective by Richard de Grijs)
New York Times: Google is sending an AI data center to outer space
Brookings: A UN satellite proposal tests limits of technological sovereignty
CNBC: SpaceX launches its massive Starship rocket into orbit for the first time

Weather, Climate, and Environment

Ars Technica: Effort begins to fill the void left by terminated US climate report
Carbon Brief: What China’s dozens of ‘five-year plans’ say about climate and energy
The Conversation: EPA says repealing power plant emissions rules will save billions — but its estimate leaves out health and climate costs (perspective by Akshaya Jha)

Energy

American Nuclear Society: ANS comments on OMB, NRC proposed rulemakings
HPCwire: CIMS harnesses national labs to accelerate adoption of computing in energy-intensive industries
Power: Purdue nuclear reactor test demonstrates remote, automated power control
Power: Nuclear plant restarts show what government can do with a clear mandate (perspective by Aaron Larsen)
New York Times: Chris Wright sells Trump’s ‘energy dominance’ vision

Defense

Inside Defense: Pentagon leaders fan out on Capitol Hill as FY-27 funding picture fractures
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): Senate Democrats press Pentagon, DNI for answers on reported AI failures in military operations
Breaking Defense: SpaceX given unique access to classified DOD space tracking data, sources say
The Guardian: UK to launch military squadron to protect satellites in space

Biomedical

Stat: The NIH budget should be $100 billion per year (perspective by Reed Jobs)
Politico: FDA nominee contradicts Trump on safety of measles vaccine
Stat: Senate finance committee backs Chris Klomp, advancing him to full Senate vote
Stat: RFK Jr.’s use of the National Center for Health Statistics will add confusion to measles deaths count (perspective by Denys Lau and Jennifer Schoendorf)

International Affairs

Research Professional: Brian Cox: UKRI’s CERN project cut ‘damages science base’
Research Professional: Commission moves to let Hungary back into Horizon Europe
Science|Business: EU science policy wonks debate prospect of stronger ties with Canada
Politico: Australian PM warns in UN speech about the ‘furious pace’ of AI after security breach