Issue 5 (March 4)

On March 31, join COSSA for a continuation of our 2025 Headlines Webinar Series. We will cover the latest Congressional news, President Trump’s Executive actions, the federal budget, and more.

The webinar will be taking place on March 31 at 1pm EST. Register here.

If you missed COSSA’s recent webinars, you can find the recordings below:

• January: 119th Congress & Trump 2.0: What Does it Mean for Us?
• February: Understanding the Latest White House and Congressional Actions

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 are at an all-time high as we continue in a tough political and budgetary landscape. Social Science Advocacy Day is a must for everyone invested in the fate of federal funding for social and behavioral science research and who believe this research is vital to inform sound public policy. Now is the time to act.

Registration for COSSA’s annual Social Science Advocacy Day is open, but time is running out! The event will be taking place March 24-25, 2025 in Washington, DC and you can 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.

Congress is facing a March 14 deadline for finalizing the fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations bill, which is when a continuing resolution (CR) expires. In recent days, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) directed appropriators to prepare a final stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government operating through the end of the fiscal year (September 30). The Trump Administration has delivered a list of “anomalies,” or changes, they would like to see in the final FY 2025 spending bill. This includes increased funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), veterans’ affairs, defense accounts, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.

The President is scheduled to give his State of the Union Address before Congress on March 4 and, in the following weeks, release the Presidential Budget Request for FY 2026. Completion of the long-overdue FY 2025 bills would allow Congress to turn to the FY 2026 appropriations process without delay.

In other news, Congress continues to work on a budget reconciliation package aimed at extending the 2017 Trump tax breaks while making deep cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. The House and Senate each narrowly passed their own budget resolutions in recent weeks (see previous COSSA coverage). Notably, the House budget resolution includes increased funding for border security and defense as well as an extension of the Trump 2017 Tax Act, while looking to make $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. The Senate budget resolution only includes increased funding for border security and defense, opting to take up the tax breaks separately. Reconciliation is a tool used by Congress to make sweeping changes to the federal budget. It can be a lengthy process due to the specific actions that are required to initiate the process. More on the budget reconciliation process is available here. Below is COSSA’s quick explainer of the process.

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

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee has jurisdiction over health care, education, employment and retirement policies, including authorization of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Education, and more. Like all Senate Committees, the leadership of the HELP Committee shifted to Republican-control following the 2024 elections. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is now serving as Chair and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as Ranking Member. As Ranking Member in the last Congress, Cassidy indicated his desire to restructure the National Institutes of Health through a series of public comments and a final set of recommendations (see previous COSSA coverage). As Chair, Cassidy is expected to prioritize lowering the cost of prescription drugs and improving child literacy rates. It is unclear at this time where NIH reauthorization ranks on his priority list.

One of the primary responsibilities of the HELP committee is to hold confirmation hearings for relevant agency heads, including the Trump-nominated NIH Director Jayanta Bhattacharya, which is currently scheduled for March 5. The hearing will be available to watch live here.

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

On February 25, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held a confirmation hearing on the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director nominee, Michael Kratsios, and the Federal Trade Commissioner nominee, Mark Meador. As previously reported by COSSA, Kratsios served as Trump’s Chief Technology Officer and later as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in the Department of Defense (DOD) during the first Trump term. During the hearing, Kratsios affirmed that he would “prioritize emerging technologies” if confirmed. Further, when Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) questioned Kratsios about the recent firings of federal agency workers by the Trump Administration (see previous COSSA coverage), he claimed it was “reasonable” for the Administration to make changes to the federal workforce to align with their policy agenda. The full recording of this hearing can be found here.

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

Trump Administration Actions (all actions available here):

• Implementing the President’s DOGE Cost Efficiency Initiative (2/26/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s DOGE Deregulatory Initiative (2/19/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Radical Transparency about Wasteful Spending (2/18/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Establishing the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission (2/13/25)
• Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Workforce Optimization Initiative (2/11/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Advancing United States Interests When Funding Nongovernmental Organizations (2/6/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• 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

COSSA continues to report on executive actions taken by the Trump Administration and the impact those actions are having on the social and behavioral science community. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Past updates are available here.

‘Radical Transparency’ About Wasteful Spending

As previously reported by COSSA, the Trump Administration has prioritized cutting “government waste” in the first six weeks of his term. On February 18, an Executive Order (EO) was published titled, Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending in which the Administration directs federal agencies to make public “the complete details of every terminated program, cancelled contract, terminated grant, or any other discontinued obligation of Federal funds” as DOGE continues to search for “government waste” across the federal agencies (see previous COSSA coverage). This EO comes as multiple lawsuits have been filed against the Trump Administration, freezing orders that are deemed outside the bounds of Presidential authority.  

Deregulation

On February 19, President Trump issued an Executive Order on Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s DOGE Deregulatory Initiative. According to the order, “It is the policy of [the Trump] Administration to focus the executive branch’s limited enforcement resources on regulations squarely authorized by constitutional Federal statutes, and to commence the deconstruction of the overbearing and burdensome administrative state.” In other words, the EO suggests that the Administration will be utilizing a literal interpretation of statute and the Constitution when determining the federal government’s regulatory responsibilities. However, as many know, not every activity of the federal government is spelled out in law; much of that determination is left to the discretion of federal agencies. Taking such an approach could potentially mean a major purging of federal regulations and other activities.

Through this order, the Administration is directing federal agencies, within 60 days, to identify regulations that meet certain criteria, including:

1. “unconstitutional regulations and regulations that raise serious constitutional difficulties, such as exceeding the scope of the power vested in the Federal Government by the Constitution;
2. regulations that are based on unlawful delegations of legislative power;
3. regulations that are based on anything other than the best reading of the underlying statutory authority or prohibition;
4. regulations that implicate matters of social, political, or economic significance that are not authorized by clear statutory authority;
5. regulations that impose significant costs upon private parties that are not outweighed by public benefits;
6. regulations that harm the national interest by significantly and unjustifiably impeding technological innovation, infrastructure development, disaster response, inflation reduction, research and development, economic development, energy production, land use, and foreign policy objectives; and
7. regulations that impose undue burdens on small business and impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship.”

Upon completion of this review, federal agencies are directed to terminate “all such enforcement proceedings that do not comply with the Constitution, laws, or Administration policy.” COSSA will be following this action closely, including any legal challenges it may elicit.

Efforts to “Justify” Federal Grants and Contracts

The President’s latest Executive Order once again takes aim at federal funding for grants and contracts. The EO, Implementing the President’s DOGE Cost Efficiency Initiative, seeks to “[commence] a transformation in Federal spending on contracts, grants, and loans to ensure Government spending is transparent and Government employees are accountable to the American public.” Under the order, each federal agency is directed to “build a centralized technological system” in which to record all grants and contracts as well as a written justifications for each expenditure. Further, agency leaders are to work with DOGE to review existing grants and contracts and “terminate or modify (including through renegotiation) such covered contracts and grants to reduce overall Federal spending or reallocate spending to promote efficiency and advance the policies of my Administration.” The order also calls for a comprehensive review of each agency’s contracting policies, procedures, and personnel.

The order requires that a similar system be created for tracking and justifying federal employee travel (including travel to conferences) and immediately freezes all credit cards issued to agency employees.

Given the similarities of this Executive Order to earlier efforts to freeze federal funding, legal challenges are likely, especially considering that Congress plays a major role in determining how federal agencies are to use appropriated dollars.

This is a developing story.

On February 20, the U.S Census Bureau appointed Dr. Ron Jarmin as Acting Director. This follows the resignation of former Census Bureau Director Rob Santos on January 30, three years into his five-year term (see previous COSSA coverage). Dr. Jarmin, a career employee of the Census Bureau since 1992 and elected fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA), previously served as Acting Director of the Bureau from January 2021 to January 2022 (see previous COSSA coverage). Dr. Jarmin is also the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Census Bureau.

This article was contributed by COSSA Intern Sarah Wang.

On February 25, a task force comprising more than 70 leaders representing science, industry, academia, philanthropy, and the public sector released the Vision for American Science and Technology (VAST). A launch event hosted by Axios was held in Washington, DC (video). COSSA Executive Director Wendy Naus served on the VAST task force.

The VAST report contains a set of policy recommendations aimed at recalibrating and optimizing the U.S. science and technology (S&T) enterprise with an eye toward enabling American long-term economic prosperity, addressing societal challenges, and maintaining global leadership.

The vision identifies three “avenues for action,” each containing recommendations for policy makers, educational institutes, and industry. The avenues for action include:

1. Unleash the full power and potential of America’s science and technology enterprise by reducing inefficiencies and breaking down barriers that hinder progress today.
2. Build and empower the strongest and most adaptable workforce in human history to benefit our people and sustain our leadership as science and technology innovators.
3. Drive breakthroughs, advance global competitiveness, address societal challenges, and strengthen our national security with commitments to fundamental discovery research, applied research, and research infrastructure.

To read the report and learn more about the VAST initiative, check out www.vastfuture.org.