Issue 3 (February 4)

On February 27, join COSSA for updates on the latest Congressional actions, President Trump’s Executive Actions, and the federal budget.

The webinar will be taking place on February 27 at 1pm EST. Register here.

If you missed COSSA’s recent webinar 119th Congress & Trump 2.0: What Does it Mean for Us? you can find the recording and slides here.

Headlines is a webinar series available to COSSA member organizations. Watch for additional webinar announcements, and previous webinar recordings, on the COSSA website.

The stakes for research funding have never been higher as we enter a particularly challenging political and budgetary environment. Social Science Advocacy Day is a must for all stakeholders who care about the fate of federal funding for social and behavioral science research and who believe this research should be used to inform sound public policy.

Early bird registration for COSSA’s annual Social Science Advocacy Day has officially been EXTENDED! The event will be taking place March 24-25, 2025 in Washington, DC. Take advantage of early bird pricing and register here.

If your organization is interested in becoming a sponsor for Social Science Advocacy Day, find all of our sponsorship opportunities available here.

Visit the COSSA website for the latest information on Social Science Advocacy Day.

Fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding is set to expire on March 14 unless Congress acts. As previously reported, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) in December to keep the government funded until March, which is nearly six months into the fiscal year. The first step is for Congressional leaders to agree on topline numbers (see previous COSSA coverage). Following the House Republicans policy retreat in Florida, it was reported that lawmakers are seeking to pass the final appropriations bills before President Trump’s State of the Union Address, which has been scheduled for March 4. However, with the recent federal funding freeze memorandum released and then rescinded two days later by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Democratic appropriators have expressed concern over the appropriations process. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, stated, “It is extremely difficult to agree to a compromise on anything if the White House is going to assert they control the funds, we don’t” (see related article). She also indicated that confirming Russell Vought as Office of Management and Budget Director would hinder the process due to similar reasoning. However, other members of Congress have reportedly indicated that the recent executive actions will not affect the negotiations process. With the deadline rapidly approaching, it is unclear whether Congress will successfully pass all twelve appropriations bills, combine the bills into one large omnibus spending package, or enact a third CR to the end of the fiscal year.

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

As previously reported by COSSA, the House and Senate committee assignments have been announced over the last month. On the House Appropriations Committee, Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) will remain in his role, as will Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), while the Senate Appropriations Committee will see a shift from Democratic majority to Republican majority with Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA).

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) is an important committee to the research community in that it is responsible for securing appropriations for federal agencies important to the research community, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Census Bureau, and several other science and statistical agencies. The subcommittee will remain under the leadership of Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) while Grace Meng (D-NY) will serve as the Ranking Member, replacing Matt Cartwright (D-PA) who lost his seat in a competitive race this past November. On the other side of the Capitol, in the Senate CJS Appropriations Subcommittee, Jerry Moran (R-KS) will shift to Chairman of the subcommittee while Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) will serve as Ranking Member, replacing Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) who pursued other committee assignments.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) is an important committee as well since it is responsible for funding the Department of Education (ED), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The LHHS Subcommittee is one of the most sought-after committee appointments due to the wide scope of agencies and priorities under its jurisdiction. The subcommittee will not see change with Chairman Robert Aderholt (R-AL) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) remaining in their respective roles. Like other Senate committees, the Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee will see a shift in leadership, with Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) taking the helm as Chairwoman while Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) will serve as Ranking Member.

Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on the 119th Congress.

Trump Administration Actions (all actions available here):

• Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling (1/29/25)
• President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (1/23/25)
• Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (1/23/25)
• Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (1/21/24) (More information)
• Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing (1/20/25)
• Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Trust to the Federal Government (1/20/25)
• Establishing and Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (1/20/25)
• Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions within the Federal Workforce (1/20/25) – Reinstates Trump Administration’s 2020 EO creating a new Schedule F in the Federal Excepted Service 
• Withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO (1/20/25)
• Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements (1/20/25) – Withdraws the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, among other actions.
• Hiring Freeze (1/20/25) (More information)
• Return to In-Person Work (1/20/25) (More information)
• Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship (1/20/25)
• Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions (1/20/25) – Rescinds dozens of Biden Administration Executive Orders

On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14148 rescinding a series of “Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” of the Biden Administration, including provisions affecting federal ethics and the census count.

President Biden’s Executive Order 13989 required every executive agency appointee to sign an ethics pledge. This commitment prohibited appointees’ connections with lobbyist activities such as receiving gifts and leveraging the “revolving door” status of their position to later secure more favorable private and foreign job prospects, until at least two years after their service. Revoking these guidelines, Trump has aligned with his first-term actions, having issued his own 2017 Ethics Commitments before removing those restrictions on his last day in office.

In another similar policy rollback, Trump repealed Executive Order 13986, which previously expanded census data tabulation of total state population to include all individuals whose usual residence was in each state, regardless of immigration status (see previous COSSA coverage). In the 2019 case Department of Commerce v. New York, the Supreme Court blocked the Trump Administration’s attempt to include a citizenship status question on the 2020 census (see COSSA’s statement here). With the rescinding of this order, there will likely be shifts in population numbers used for the allocation of Electoral College votes and congressional seats, as well as for the distribution of federal funding for infrastructure and social programs.

Stay tuned to COSSA’s coverage for all the details as the new Administration takes shape over the coming weeks.

This article was contributed by COSSA Intern Sarah Wang.

Dorothy Fink M.D. has been appointed by President Trump to serve as acting Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) as confirmation hearings for the presidential nominee for the position, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., continue. Fink previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health and Director of the Office on Women’s Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH). Shortly after her appointment, Fink tapped Matthew Memoli, M.D., to serve as acting Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as the Senate works to confirm Jay Bhattacharya (see previous COSSA coverage). Memoli, a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) researcher, has previously expressed safety concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine. Bhattacharya’s confirmation hearing has yet to be scheduled.

On January 23, Fink issued a freeze on public communications and employee travel until February 1. While the temporary pause in communications is not unprecedented with a new Administration, there were concerns within the community about the effects the pause may have on researchers across the federal agencies.

Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on the new Administration.

On January 21, President Trump signed the Executive Order (EO), Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. The EO makes bold claims that the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts of past administrations violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through adopting “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences” that have hindered opportunity for certain groups. This EO has resulted in a massive scale back of DEI initiatives across the federal agencies and the optional scale back of DEI initiatives across U.S. businesses.

The directive requires federal agencies to place all federal DEI staff on paid leave with the intent of being laid off. DEI webpages on federal agency websites were taken down and bias trainings indefinitely suspended. DEI research has also been affected, with researchers across the agencies having their funding frozen by the Trump Administration; however, with the pending lawsuits against these actions, some funding is reportedly available again. [WN1] The National Science Foundation (NSF) has created a website detailing their responses to the EOs, including a frequently asked questions page that details the dates of each action taken.

For more information on the importance of DEI initiatives, refer to COSSA’s Headlines & Deep Dive on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in Science and read our Why Social Science? Because it Sheds Light on Representation in the STEM Workforce.

A list of notable Trump Executive Orders can be found here. Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on the Trump Administration and relevant policy to the social and behavioral science community.

Since President Trump was sworn into office on January 20, several executive actions have been taken that have impacted social and behavioral science (SBS) research, including freezes on hiring federal workers and requiring federal workers to return  to the office, a halt on all communications, spending, and travel within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and a memorandum from the White House Office of Budget and Management (OMB) instituting a freeze on federal spending across agencies that was rescinded two days later. As previously reported by COSSA, President Trump signed two Executive Orders (EO) implementing a hiring freeze and dismantling work-from-home policies for federal agencies along with several EOs targeting specific programs and research, including the order on Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (see related article).

On January 27, OMB issued a memorandum freezing virtually all funding administered through federal agencies, requiring the agencies to comply with recent EOs (see full list here) and produce a report on relevant programs no later than February 10. Once OMB reviewed the reports, funding would resume for that agency. However, due to mass confusion and panic about what programs were affected by the freeze and lawsuits filed by state officials, the memorandum was rescinded on January 29. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt indicated that the OMB memo was rescinded to “end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage” and that efforts to decrease federal spending would continue. While this comment created more confusion than clarification, the rescission of the memorandum does not affect the EO’s directives to dismantle programs that defy the orders. It is important to note that federal funding is set by Congress through the appropriations process and, therefore, these EO’s are likely in violation of the president’s executive power. The lawsuits will likely continue despite the rescission of the OMB memorandum.

A list of notable Trump Executive Orders can be found here. Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on the Trump Administration and relevant policy to the social and behavioral science community.

On January 30, Census Bureau Director Robert Santos resigned three years into his five-year term. His resignation comes after the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on the Census Bureau on December 5 which largely focused on whether the 2030 Census should include a citizenship question and President Trump’s recent rescission of the Biden Administration’s Executive Order (EO) affirming that the census should count all people, not only citizens, as per the 14^th Amendment (see previous COSSA coverage). As a reminder, during his first-term, the Trump Administration attempted to add a citizenship question to the decennial census only for the Supreme Court to block the order (see previous COSSA coverage).

Santos, having been the first person of color to serve as Director of the Census Bureau, is a distinguished statistician (see previous COSSA coverage). Before serving as Director, Santos served as the President of the American Statistical Association (ASA), a COSSA governing member (see previous COSSA coverage). He also participated in COSSA events, including a Headlines webinar from May 2024 titled Recent Developments at the Census Bureau.