FY24 Appropriations Process Is Underway: President’s Budget Request is Released

Posted on March 23, 2023April 3, 2023

Earlier this month, the FY2024 President’s Budget Request (PBR) was released outlining the administration’s priorities for the coming fiscal year. The overall request is self-described as a blueprint to build on the past two years to “grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out by investing in America, lowering costs for families, protecting and strengthening Medicare and Social Security, and reducing the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade”.

The FY24 PBR included:

$8,215 per Pell Grant award (an $820 increase over FY23)
$21 billion in discretionary spending for CHIPS & Science-authorized activities including $1.2 billion for the Directorate of Technology Innovation and Partnerships (TIP)
$48.26 billion for NIH (an increase of 1.7% over FY23)
$2.5 billion for ARPA-H (a $1 billion increase over FY23)
$27.2 billion for NASA (a 7.1% increase over FY23), and
$11.3 billion for NSF (an 18.6% increase over FY23 enacted level of $9.5 billion)

Now the House and Senate will review the request and vote on a Budget Resolution that decides on topline numbers for discretionary funding. Here is where things could get tricky as the new divided Congress will likely have trouble coming to an agreement.

Check out a more complete list of programs and accounts on our updated appropriations tracker, including the FY24 budget request numbers, here. We will continue to add to this once more budget justifications are released and as the appropriations process continues.

Student Loan Forgiveness Application Now Live

Posted on October 20, 2022October 20, 2022

This week, President Biden announced the formal launch of the application for federal student loan relief which should take under 5 minutes to complete. To access the application, go to studentaid.gov and click “Apply Now”. From there, you will need to fill out basic information including your name, birth date, social security number, phone number, and email address, but you will not need to attach any documentation. After filling out the personal information, you will have to acknowledge that you meet the income eligibility requirements and then you are ready to submit. The Education Department may reach out to you directly if they require any additional information. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible for federal loan forgiveness as long as they meet the income requirements, and all applicants can expect to see the relief within 4-6 weeks of submitting the application form.

Prabhakar Confirmed as OSTP Director

Posted on September 23, 2022

By a vote of 56 – 40, the Senate confirmed yesterday the nomination of Arati Prabhakar as Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). She had cleared the committee process earlier this year and had been waiting for a vote by the full Senate. She was nominated to fill the role after Eric Lander resigned the from the OSTP earlier this year.

Fauci to Retire in December

Posted on August 22, 2022

Dr. Anthony Fauci has announced that he will retire in December. He is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and has served in that role for 38 years. He has also been serving as the chief medical adviser to President Biden. While he has long been known to the biomedical research community, he has become a bigger public figure during COVID pandemic.

Read more about him and his decision here, here, and here.

Biden to Officially Nominate Prabhakar as Head of OSTP

Posted on June 21, 2022July 5, 2022

It had been previously reported that Dr. Arati Prabhakar was the leading candidate to take over as the head of the White House OSTP. Today, the White House officially announced that President Biden intends to nominate her to become the next Director of OSTP. She previously served as the head of NIST under President Clinton and the director of DARPA under President Obama. If confirmed, she will also assume the position of Chief Science Advisor for Science and Technology to the President.