Volume 44 (2025)
President Trump Executive Actions
Trump Administration Actions (all actions available here): Find COSSA’s full list of Trump’s Executive Actions and more information here or on the Social Science Space Tracker.
Reminder to Register: Final Headlines Webinar of 2025!
On December 10, join COSSA for the final Headlines webinar of the year. We will cover key policy developments and Congressional activity that affected the social and behavioral sciences in 2025 and preview what’s ahead for 2026. Register now and join the conversation. Headlines is a webinar series available to COSSA member organizations. Watch for additional webinar announcements, and previous webinar recordings, on the COSSA website.
Social Science Advocacy Day: Early Bird Registration is Open
COSSA’s annual Social Science Advocacy Day is BACK and will take place March 23-24, 2026 in Washington, DC! This annual event brings together social and behavioral science researchers, faculty, students, association professionals, and other advocates from across the country. Together, we’ll meet with elected officials in Congress to discuss the value of our sciences and the importance of federal funding. Early Bird Registration is officially open! Register now to take advantage of early bird pricing and don’t forget to check out our sponsorship opportunities (some including free regsitrations).
Appropriations Bills Stalled; Congress to Consider NDAA
As the year approaches its end, Congress is still working to finish the fiscal year (FY) 2026 appropriations bills. Most of the federal government is currently funded under a continuing resolution (CR) that gives lawmakers until January 30, 2026 to complete their work (reminder: the new fiscal year began on October 1). With the upcoming two-week recess for the holidays, Congress is on a tight deadline. As previously reported by COSSA, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has reiterated that the Senate has plans to consider the Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS), Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS),…
Equal Representation Act
On December 2, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee advanced the Equal Representation Act (H.R. 151). The act, which was led by Congressman Chuck Edwards (R-NC), seeks to include a citizenship question on the decennial census and exclude non-citizens from congressional apportionment. COSSA signed onto a letter to Congress led by the Population Association of America (PAA), a COSSA governing member, earlier this year opposing this legislation as these changes could potentially undermine participation in the decennial census and, therefore, ultimately diminish the quality and utility of decennial census data. This could have devastating effects for researchers that rely on the data. There…
Cassidy Urges CDC to Reject ACIP’s New Hepatitis B Recommendation
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met earlier this month for their final meeting of the year. During their meeting, ACIP voted in favor (8-3) of reversing the recommendation that the Hepatitis B vaccine be administered to children at birth regardless of if the mother is negative for the virus or doesn’t know their status. A recording of the meeting is available here and the recommendation is expected to be posted here. Before the meeting took place, Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who served as a physician prior to…
Request for Information: Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise
Before the Thanksgiving break, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a request for information (RFI) on Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise. The RFI states that advances in scientific opportunity, like artificial intelligence and quantum computing, coupled with intensified global competition “call for a comprehensive assessment of how the federal government prioritizes and structures scientific research.” The RFI is asking stakeholders to respond to 13 questions that “will inform the formulation of Executive branch efforts to advance and maintain U.S. S&T leadership.” Questions cover topics such as funding mechanisms that could improve public-private collaborations, ways to support…
ICYMI: NIH Modifies Funding Strategy, Moves Away from Paylines
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a notice on November 21 outlining a framework for “Implementing a Unified NIH Funding Strategy to Guide Consistent and Clearer Award Decisions.” The notice follows on an August statement from the NIH Director. The framework describes a need to “balance many competing and dynamic factors when determining the most meritorious research ideas to support,” such as peer review, availability of funds, and health priorities, among others. Starting with the January 2026 Councils, all NIH institutes and centers (ICs) will be expected to follow the same funding policies, including the following core tenets: In addition, the notice…
ASA Releases “The Nation’s Data at Risk” Report for 2025
The American Statistical Association’s (ASA) “Federal Statistics Health” project team announced the release of “The Nation’s Data at Risk: 2025 Report”. The report updates the team’s assessment of the health of the federal statistical agencies since the July 2024 release of the inaugural report. The report will go live at 7am EST on December 10 on the project website. ASA will also be hosting a webinar on December 10 at 10am EST. Register here. ASA is a COSSA governing member.
COSSA 101: “What is Appropriations?”
COSSA is excited to announce the latest brief in our COSSA 101: A Crash Course on the Federal Government series: “What is Appropriations?“ The series will continue to provide easy-to-understand information about the inner workings of the federal government and how they affect social and behavioral science research. Continue to check back on the homepage to discover new briefs. Do you have a federal government topic you would like explained by COSSA 101? Send us your ideas! Other recent topics include, “What is a Government Shutdown?“
Meet COSSA’s Policy Intern: Anne Tighe!
Anne Tighe started as COSSA’s policy intern in September. Before she signs off, she provided some reflections from her time at COSSA! How did you learn about COSSA and the opportunity to serve as a policy intern? While seeking fall internship opportunities on Handshake, I encountered COSSA’s Government Affairs and Public Policy Internship. My interest was piqued in the chance to advocate for a cause I am passionate about while working with the federal government. In my previous experience as a Community Affairs Liaison for the New York State government, I spent my summer in Queens helping connect constituents with…
Congress Turns to Final Appropriations Bills Following End of Government Shutdown
As previously reported by COSSA, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) that extends fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding through to January 30, 2026, ending the weeks-long government shutdown and giving Appropriators additional time to finish their work on FY 2026 funding. Currently, only three appropriations bills have been enacted into law—each having been attached to the CR—including the Agriculture bill, Legislative Branch bill, and Veteran Affairs bill. Despite delays, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has reiterated that the Senate has plans to consider the Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS), Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS), and Transportation,…
Trump Administration launches AI-focused ‘Genesis Mission’
On November 24, the White House issued an executive order (EO), Launching the Genesis Mission. It is the latest action by the Trump Administration seeking to establish American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI). Genesis Mission, according to the EO, will “unleash a new age of AI-accelerated innovation and discovery” by “[building] an integrated AI platform to harness Federal scientific datasets—the world’s largest collection of such datasets, developed over decades of Federal investments—to train scientific foundation models and create AI agents to test new hypotheses, automate research workflows, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs.” The Department of Energy (DOE) is tasked with implementing the mission with…
NSF Downsizes its Physical Location
Earlier this month the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the location of the new Alexandria, VA headquarters of the National Science Foundation (NSF). As previously reported, it was announced in July that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would be taking over the NSF headquarters building later this year. At the time, it was not clear where NSF’s 1600 employees would be relocated. NSF will now be collocated with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which is less than a half mile away from NSF’s current location. The announcement states the move is part of the Trump Administration’s…
Federal Agencies Reopen with Uncertainty
The 44-day government shutdown created chaos and uncertainty across federal agencies. Now that the government has reopened, federal employees are back to work but face new uncertainties about the future. Acting Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Brian Stone circulated a memo to staff outlining the agency’s plans for resuming its activities. According to the memo, priority will be placed on processing backpay for employees and restoring NSF’s capacity to make awards. However, the memo explains that as a result of the lapse in funding, the agency will not be able to administer all of its programs as planned. The memo…
Trump Announces Several Interagency Agreements under the Department of Education
On November 18, President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced several interagency agreements (IAA), including partnerships with the Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to the provided fact sheets (see below), the Department of Education “will maintain all statutory responsibility and will continues its oversight of these programs,” but will yield other responsibilities through these partnerships. The announced IAAs include: Notably, in both the President’s Budget Request (PBR) and the House fiscal year (FY) 2026 bill, IEFLS would see its funding terminated (see COSSA’s analyses). In the provided fact sheet, it notes that…
AAPOR Releases Report Evaluating 2024 Election Polling
The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), a COSSA governing member, has released a new report titled “Task Force on 2024 Pre-Election Polling: An Evaluation of the 2024 General Election Polls.” This report analyzes the effectiveness of pre-election polling for the 2024 elections. The task force found that polls were more accurate compared to previous election years, and that – consistent with recent trends – polls underestimated Republican votes compared to Democrats’. The report was discussed in-depth at a recent AAPOR webinar, details can be found here. This article was contributed by COSSA Intern Anne Tighe.
REGISTER NOW: Headlines Webinar on December 10
On December 10, join COSSA for the final Headlines webinar of the year. We will cover key policy developments and Congressional activity that affected the social and behavioral sciences in 2025 and preview what’s ahead for 2026. Register now and join the conversation. Headlines is a webinar series available to COSSA member organizations. Watch for additional webinar announcements, and previous webinar recordings, on the COSSA website.