Last Friday, the same day as the release of the detailed Biden budget documents, the Senate confirmed Eric Lander as the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). He was sworn in yesterday. As a result of being elevated to a cabinet-level post, this is the first time that the position of the head of OSTP required Senate confirmation.
More information about Lander and OSTP is available here.
Earlier this morning, a number of nominees for key science posts in the Biden Administration moved forward.
The Senate Commerce Committee reported out favorably the nomination of Dr. Eric Lander for the position of Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The committee also held the confirmation hearing for Dr. Rick Spinrad, the Biden Administration’s nominee for NOAA Administrator, and Col. Pamela Melroy, for the position of NASA Deputy Administrator.
The Senate will begin debate on the bipartisan Endless Frontier Act, which advanced out of committee last week. The legislation would create a new Directorate for Technology and Innovation within the NSF, establish supply chain resiliency programs, and create new reporting on jobs, the economy, and security. The bill advanced out of committee despite the addition of a contentious amendment to shift $71 billion from the NSF to the Department of Energy for R&D purposes. Several amendments include China-related and other research security provisions.
The US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will convene a hearing titled Protecting U.S. Biomedical Research: Efforts to Prevent Undue Foreign Influence.
Date: Thursday, April 22nd, 2021
Time: 10:00am ET (7:00am PT)
Witnesses:
Watch live here.