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Category: Administration

Almost There…

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After much back-and-forth and a final round of negotiations last weekend, the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) came to an agreement on a debt ceiling package earlier this week.   Yesterday evening, the House passed the legislation in a bipartisan manner, by a vote of 314 – 117.  The Senate must now take it up.

While its details are still being digested, the package contains the following provisions, among others:

  • a suspension of the debt limit until January 1, 2025 
  • essentially a freeze in discretionary spending for both FY2024 and FY2025 relative to FY2023, the current fiscal year
    • as part of the spending limits for the next two years, the legislation sets separate spending caps on “security” and “non-security” programs for the next two fiscal years
  • a mandatory cut of one percent in discretionary spending if all 12 annual appropriations are not signed into law by January 1 each fiscal year for the next two years
  • prohibition on further extensions of the student loan repayment deferrals– repayments would restart by early September

The legislation also includes a package of recissions, the details of which are still being assessed.  We will share additional information about them as they come to light.

Not surprisingly, there was drama in the House before the floor vote, as some members of the hard-right wing of the House Republicans blasted the deal.  There were questions about whether, procedurally, McCarthy had enough support to even bring the bill to the floor.  

As noted above, the bill now goes to the Senate, where both Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urged support for it among their colleagues.

Read more about the developments here, here, and here. 

OSTP Virtual Public Listening Sessions on Open Science

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This week and next week, the White House Office of Science & Technology (OSTP) is hosting a series of live sessions aimed at listening to the perspectives of early career researchers on open science. OSTP is seeking input from undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows as well as those involved in training and capacity building, including librarians, educators, and administrators. Participants will have the opportunity to speak during the session and should indicate their interest in doing so in the registration form.

Please visit the links below to register for any of the four upcoming virtual listening sessions. The listening sessions are as follows:

For more information on the sessions, click here.

President Biden Announces Intent to Nominate Dr. Bertagnolli as NIH Director

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President Biden announced today his intent to nominate Dr. Monica Bertagnolli as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Dr. Bertagnolli is currently the Director of the National Cancer Institute and was previously the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery in the field of surgical oncology at Harvard Medical School, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a member of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Treatment and Sarcoma Centers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Read more about Dr. Bertagnolli and President Biden’s statement here.

President Biden & Speaker McCarthy Set to Meet Tuesday to Discuss the Debt Ceiling

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President Biden, Speaker McCarthy, and other congressional leaders are set to meet on Tuesday to discuss raising the debt ceiling amidst the ongoing political standoff and renewed urgency given the Treasury Department’s warning that the government could default on its debt as soon as June 1. House Republicans passed their debt ceiling bill last week that would increase the debt ceiling while cutting federal spending by more than $3.5 trillion over the coming decade. The plan would cut discretionary spending by an average of 18% over the next decade with little detail on which programs would be cut or spared. The New York Times estimates that if defense, veterans’ health, and border security are spared (which has been discussed), the remaining programs would have to be cut by half.  The bill also includes provisions that repeal some of the Biden administration’ priorities including the plan to cancel student loan debt. 

House Democrats meanwhile are calling for an increase in the debt ceiling without conditions (which was done multiple times during the Trump presidency) but the House Republicans claim they will not budge. Tuesday will be the first time in seven months that President Biden and Speaker McCarthy will meet to discuss this issue which will a critical to see if any progress can be made.  

Read more about this here and here.

UW Partners with White House OSTP to Host Climate Change Solutions Forum

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Representatives from approximately 80 colleges and universities met in Washington D.C. on March 8th and 9th for an exciting two-day forum co-hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the University of Washington to discuss how to leverage the capabilities of colleges and universities to catalyze climate solutions in communities across the country. The attendees represented a cross-section of American higher education from almost all 50 states, including those from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions. UW was represented by Maya Tolstoy, Dean of the College of the Environment and Meade Krosby, University of Director of the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (pictured below).  

The first day of the forum was held at the White House campus where higher education professionals were joined by government officials for three panels to discuss the various ways that higher education and the federal government can partner together to showcase how campuses can act as proving grounds for new climate solutions and pathways to net-zero emissions; provide essential climate extension services to states, municipalities, and indigenous communities; and ensure that students have the knowledge and skills to lead in the clean industries of the future.  The meeting also included remarks from prominent speakers including the White House Deputy National Climate Advisor Mary Frances Repko; OSTP Deputy Director for Energy Sally Benson; National Science Foundation Assistant Director for Geosciences Alexandra Isern; OSTP Chief of Staff for Climate and Environment and Assistant Director for Climate Resilience Laura Petes; and UW’s very own Maya Tolstoy, who delivered final remarks for the day.  

The attendees then headed to the University of the District of Columbia for Day 2 which included a full day of panels and breakout sessions where attendees discussed strategies and experiences around four themes: campus sustainability and resilience, providing climate services to communities, living laboratories for climate solutions, and climate action in the classroom. The forum ended with a call for action to continue this momentum and maintain a strong channel of communication between higher education and the federal government to advance climate change solutions.   

To learn more, click here for the White House Read Out of the event and here to watch the full live stream of Day 1.