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Category: Administration

Appropriators Push Back on Pocket Rescission

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Late Friday, the Trump administration announced plans to cancel $810 million in funds for health and education programs, only days before the new fiscal year begins on Thursday. This “pocket rescission” is a maneuver used shortly before the end of the fiscal year, which attempts to take back money that has already been appropriated by Congress. The same tactic was used last year by the administration to cancel $4.9 billion in foreign aid funds. The Government Accountability Office has called pocket rescissions illegal.

Top appropriators from both parties have accused OMB of acting illegally by intentionally withholding funds for months. In a statement, Chair of Senate Appropriations Committee Susan Collins said “any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law. I will work with my colleagues to address these illegal actions.”

 

On the Hill this week:

  • The Senate is scheduled to vote on the Protect College Sports Act (S. 4668) at 5:30pm today, which will set new rules for name, image, and likeness issues. It is expected to pass with wide bipartisan support.
  • Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions pending nominations on September 30, including Nicole Saphier to be surgeon general, Timothy Westlake to be assistant HHS secretary for mental health and substance use, and Mary Lazare to be assistant HHS secretary for aging

Updates from the Hill

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House Members have returned to their districts for a full six weeks of campaigning ahead of the midterm elections, but plenty of activity continues in the Senate and executive branch.

  • President Trump banned CNN, Politico, and MS NOW reporters from the White House over the weekend. All three news outlets have announced they plan to file a lawsuit today.
  • Judge Postpones Effective Date of Rule Limiting International Student Visas: Last week, Judge F. Dennis Saylor of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a nationwide preliminary injunction postponing DHS from implementing their final rule ending the “duration of status” framework for F, J, and I visa holders.
  • White House Moves to Take Control of NIH Grants: In a White House meeting Friday, an executive order was discussed with plans to create a new external committee with the power to veto NIH awards. It’s the latest in reported clashes between OMB Director Russell Vought and NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya over funding projects that conflict with administration priorities.

    • In a statement, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Chair of the Appropriations Committee said: “The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should not be involved in agency decisions on the awards of grants. As I stated in my July 6 letter, a proposed OMB rule would politicize grantmaking. The Continuing Resolution — which passed the Senate, House, and was signed into law on September 2 – blocks OMB’s proposed rule or any substantially similar one. Any attempt to politicize grantmaking at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), or any other agency, by another means—whether an Executive Order or guidance—is contrary to congressional intent. Imposing a political review on awards that have already been selected through a rigorous scientific and merit-based process undermines the long-standing principle that the government funds awards based on scientific need and merit, rather than political ideology.”

In the Senate this week:

  • A final vote for the Protect College Sports Act could come as soon as this week. On September 17, the Senate voted 77-22 to move the bill forward to debate and final vote. It could be the last item Congress votes on before midterms, raising concerns for some Republicans who say they should be focusing on issues of affordability, the war in Iran, and other issues which are top of mind for voters.
  • Nomination Hearing (Thurs. Sept. 24): Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for Dr. Heidi Overton to be FDA Commissioner

 

Senate Confirms Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC Director

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On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate voted to confirm Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency’s first full-time leader in nearly a year. The 51-44 vote fell along party lines, with Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) as the only Democrat to vote in her favor. Dr. Schwartz was a deputy surgeon general in Trump’s first administration and is Trump’s third nominee for CDC director in two years. She takes the lead at an agency that has faced a wave of challenges since Health Secretary Kennedy took office, including losing about a third of its staff to layoffs and resignations, the firing of former director Susan Monarez after clashes over vaccine policy, and dealing with several high-profile outbreaks.

Dr. Schwartz has expressed strong support for Kennedy’s “Make Health Healthy Again” agenda. She has publicly supported vaccines but dodged specific questions during her confirmation hearing about potential political interference from Kennedy.

Senate Strikes Bipartisan Stopgap Funding Deal, Delays OMB’s Proposed Rule

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On Sunday, Senate appropriators released text of their own version of a stopgap spending deal, a continuing resolution (CR) which would extend current funding levels through December 11, a week later than what House Republicans proposed in their recent stopgap bill which passed last month. Senate leaders are hoping to pass this measure before they leave town on Friday for August recess, as both chambers hope to avert a potential government shutdown until after the midterm elections.

The Senate CR bill is similar to the Republican-led House version, which passed along largely party lines. However, the Senate version contains several significant elements that curb the administration’s authority.

Notably, this bill would block OMB’s proposed “uniform guidance” federal rule, which would require grants to be approved by senior political appointees, among other changes. The rule was set to go into effect on October 1, this legislation would freeze implementation of the rule until December 11. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collines (R-ME), said in a statement she has pushed “significant changes to the proposed rule,” while reiterating concerns about “its potential to politicize grants and harm small, rural communities, families, and biomedical research.”

Another restriction within the bill would block the administration from transferring further funding to Border Patrol.

OSTP Releases “Science: A New Golden Age” Report

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Yesterday, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Michael Kratsios published Science: A New Golden Age, a report to President Trump which lays out a vision and policy framework for American research and development. Accompanying the report is a White House Fiscal Year 2028 R&D Priorities Memorandum from OMB director Russ Vought and Director Kratsios, providing specific directives to federal departments and agencies for implementing the recommendations laid out in this report. Federal R&D agencies are required to submit an action plan within 90 days outlining their implementation plans and incorporate the guidance into their FY2028 submissions to OMB.

A summary of the report from OSTP is below:

“The report organizes its recommendations to government, industry, academia, and philanthropy around four key pillars:

  1. Revitalize America’s Science and Technology Enterprise
    The R&D enterprise should refocus support on individual scientists rather than legacy institutions, diversify funding mechanisms beyond slow consensus peer review, create agile new research organizations such as X-Labs and expanded ARPA-like entities, and establish metascience units to institutionalize continuous improvement.
  2. Secure U.S. Dominance in Critical and Emerging Technologies
    Federal R&D should prioritize national mission-driven scientific initiatives that unite government, industry, academia, and philanthropy around ambitious goals. These include the Genesis Mission to double the productivity of American research through AI; the Quantum Computer for Application Development and Discovery Science (QC-ADDS); commercial fusion power demonstration by the mid-2030s; crewed lunar return and lunar base development; and next-generation semiconductor technologies.
  3. Launch a New Golden Age Powered by AI for Science
    The Federal government should fully fund and scale the Genesis Mission as the flagship national AI-for-science initiative to dramatically accelerate discovery; develop domain-specific scientific foundation models and high-value datasets, invest in AI-enabled verification infrastructure and autonomous laboratories; and begin transitioning toward AI-native scientific institutions better suited to an era of machine-augmented research.
  4. Ensure That Science and Technology Better the Lives of All Americans
    Federal agencies should integrate hands-on technical training and apprenticeships into STEM education, open scientific careers to skilled craftspeople and practitioners, build dense regional innovation clusters that link research with advanced manufacturing, and ensure that the economic returns of discovery reach every region and community in the country.”