Issue 24 (December 9)

The most recent Why Social Science? post comes from Heather M. Washington from the American Sociological Association (ASA) about how sociology can help move us towards a more equitable future and how ASA is helping sociologists connect with policymakers.

Read on for more.

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.

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).

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), and Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bills in a single package, using the Defense spending bill as a vehicle to pass the other more controversial bills while the House pushes for smaller packages to be considered. Little movement has been seen on the funding bills since our previous reporting; however, reports indicate the chambers are working behind the scenes to advance the legislation and are expected to review several bills before the holiday recess begins. Reportedly, delays are a result of failed negotiations between the two parties in the Senate.

In other news, earlier this week the House and Senate revealed the bill text for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House is scheduled to vote on the bill later this week while the Senate is expected to follow with their own vote before the end of the year. While the NDAA is an authorization bill, and the Defense appropriations bill has yet to be released, the NDAA includes a topline number of $900.6 billion that could help in the final negotiations between the two chambers. Further, the SAFE Research Act, a provision that would have created extensive national security barriers to how the Department of Defense can fund research at universities, was not included in the bill despite having been included as an amendment in the House-passed NDAA earlier this year (see previous COSSA coverage). However, the bill could see changes made before being considered by either chamber.

Stay tuned for COSSA’s continued coverage on the appropriations process.

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 is not yet a scheduled date for the bill to be considered on the House floor. COSSA has posted an Action Alert here urging Congress to reject the Equal Representation Act.

Stay tuned for COSSA’s continued coverage.

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 entering Congress, posted about the committee on Twitter, stating, “The ACIP is totally discredited. They are not protecting children.” Following the vote on changing the Hepatitis B recommendation, Sen. Cassidy continued, “This makes America sicker. Acting CDC Director [Jim] O’Neill should not sign these new recommendations and instead retain the current, evidence-based approach.” It is currently unclear whether the CDC will adopt this recommendation; however, O’Neill has a history of vaccine skepticism.

As previously reported, ACIP has undergone major changes this year, with Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removing all members of the committee and replacing them with vaccine skeptics. Further, this move contributed to the abrupt firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez after she reportedly refused to agree to accept recommendations from the committee regardless of scientific evidence (see previous COSSA’s coverage). In response, Sen. Cassidy questioned Secretary Kennedy and Monarez in two separate hearings in September, and raised concerns over the ACIP making recommendations without sufficient scientific evidence (see previous COSSA coverage). While members of Congress, including Sen. Cassidy, have vowed to conduct oversight of the new committee members and potential conflicts of interest, little movement has been made on the issue since.

Stay tuned for COSSA’s continued coverage of the Administration.

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 more high-risk, high-reward research, how the federal government can support the translation of research into “practical applications,” and identification of unnecessary or burdensome regulations.

Comments are due by December 26 and can be submitted here. 

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:

• Align with the NIH’s mission
• Prioritize scientific merit
• Integrate a breadth of topics and approaches relevant to the IC’s priorities
• Consider investigator career stage and promote sustainability of the biomedical research workforce
• Promote broad distribution and geographic balance of funding
• Align with the availability of funds

In addition, the notice announced that NIH will no longer rely on funding paylines in grant decisions. Instead, peer review scores will be considered alongside other factors like NIH priorities, strategic plans, and budgets. 

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.