Appropriations Process Kicks Into Gear

Posted on July 12, 2021

With six more bills scheduled for at least subcommittee action this week, the annual appropriations process for FY2022 has kicked into gear. This week’s activities follow those that took place the last week of June. This means that all 12 spending bills will have moved through at least the subcommittee process by the end of this week.

The following pieces of legislation are scheduled for subcommittee action this week:

Monday: Labor-HHS-Education, Energy and Water Development (E&W), Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD).

On Tuesday, the full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to take up the Defense and Homeland Security bills. The committee is currently scheduled to mark up the E&W and THUD bills on Friday.

The following bills have already cleared the full committee:

The Legislative Branch and Financial Services bills are still awaiting full committee action.

We will provide details as they become available.

NSF Legislation Adopted in Senate

Posted on June 9, 2021

After several weeks on the floor, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act– formerly known as the “Endless Frontier Act”– was cleared by the Senate yesterday. The final vote was 68 – 32.

The House has its own version of the bill, the NSF for the Future Act.

Science Nominees Move Forward

Posted on May 20, 2021May 20, 2021

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.

NSF Reauthorization Introduced in House

Posted on March 26, 2021

The House Science, Space, and Technology has introduced legislation to reauthorize the NSF. The legislation is sponsored by committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) along with Subcommittee on Research and Technology Chairwoman Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Ranking Member Michael Waltz (R-FL). It was introduced as the National Science Foundation for the Future Act. The bipartisan legislation increases overall agency funding by $2 billion, addresses key challenges for data access and accountability, security concerns, and creates a new Directorate for Science and Engineering Solutions.

A summary is available here.

Nelson Nominated to Lead NASA

Posted on March 22, 2021March 22, 2021

Former Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) has been nominated to lead NASA. The three-term Senator and former Representative flew on a shuttle mission in 1986 and served as a vocal champion of the agency while he was in Congress. He served as chairman of the Senate Commerce, Transportation, and Science Committee, which oversees NASA.

Read more about Nelson and his nomination here, here, and here.