Issue 7 (April 1)

On April 29, join COSSA for the next installment of the Headlines Webinar series. We will continue to cover the latest Congressional news, President Trump’s Executive actions, the federal budget, and more.

The webinar will be taking place on April 29 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
• March: Latest Policy Updates from COSSA

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

On March 24-25, COSSA held its annual Social Science Advocacy Day in Washington, DC. Over 70 social and behavioral science researchers, students, and advocates from 17 different states headed to Capitol Hill to meet with more than 60 offices in the House of Representatives and Senate, all carrying a message about the need to prioritize funding for social and behavioral science research.

COSSA is especially grateful to the sponsors of this year’s event. Thank you to all involved for making this such an impactful experience and stay tuned for news about Social Science Advocacy Day 2026!

With the fiscal year (FY) 2025 process (mostly) in the rearview mirror following the passage of a full-year continuing resolution (CR) earlier this month, Congress is returning its attention to passing a budget resolution to enact some of the Trump Administration’s top priorities (see previous COSSA coverage). As previously reported by COSSA, the House passed their budget resolution in February that included a permanent extension of the Trump 2017 tax cuts and $1.5 trillion in cuts to non-defense discretionary spending. In order to unlock the reconciliation process—which would allow the tax cuts and spending reductions to pass by a simple majority and avoid a filibuster—the House and Senate must first pass identical budget resolutions that include overall spending targets. According to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), the Senate could vote on an emerging compromise budget reconciliation as soon as this week. Even if that happens, there are many steps still to be taken before getting to a vote on what Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill.”

In other news and in a rare show of bipartisan criticism of the Administration, on March 27, Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, respectively, sent a letter to the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Russell Vought, accusing the Trump Administration of illegally refusing to spend $2.9 billion in funds appropriated in the recently passed FY 2025 CR (see previous COSSA coverage). The funding in question was included in the CR as emergency funding; the President does not agree that the designated funds are an emergency, by his determination, and therefore will not spend it. Among the funds is $234 million for the National Science Foundation (NSF), specifically for research facilities construction costs. In the letter, Sens. Murray and Collins wrote, “Just as the president does not have a line-item veto, he does not have the ability to pick and choose which emergency spending to designate.” Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, sent a similar letter, although Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, did not sign-on.

Elsewhere in Congress, Members have been introducing legislation in response to executive actions taken by the Trump Administration (see related article). This includes the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee (SST) Democrats, who are currently in the minority, who have introduced legislation to prevent reduction in force (RIF) at federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) (see bill text here). We have also seen bills to repeal President Donald Trump’s EO establishing DOGE, including the BAD DOGE Act introduced by Rep. Dave Min (D-CA).  

Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on Congressional activities.

On March 26, Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Peter Welch (D-VT) hosted a Congressional townhall on Trump and Musk’s Cuts to Cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease Cures. The event was held in response to efforts by the Administration to cut funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including major reductions in the NIH workforce.

The town hall featured remarks from former NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli; Dr. Sterling Johnson, University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor and Associate Director of Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center; Dr. Whitney Wharton, Emory University Associate Professor and Alzheimer’s Disease researcher; Dr. Larry Saltzman, former Executive Research Director for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; and Mr. Jessy Ybarra, Board of Trustees member for the ALS Association.

In her announcement of the town hall, Sen. Baldwin said, “As Donald Trump and Elon Musk claim they want to ‘Make America Healthy Again,’ they are halting lifesaving research that gives Americans battling Alzheimer’s disease and cancer hope every day that they have a fighting chance at getting better.” The town hall focused on the impacts of the recent executive actions taken by the Trump Administration, particularly on vulnerable populations and health researchers. Other attendees included Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), and more. No Republican Senators were in attendance.

During the town hall, Sen. Baldwin spoke to the detrimental effects of the Trump Administration’s communication and funding freezes, which has harmed current and future research projects, created uncertainty among researchers in the U.S. scientific research enterprise, and negatively impacted people potentially receiving treatment from federally funded facilities. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) cited that the actions have led to researchers not knowing whether they will receive the promised funding or experience an abrupt cancellation of their federal grants.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) also indicated that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was “sowing fear and disrupting operations” at NIH, and voiced concerns over the impact this would have on the workforce pipeline as probationary employees and fellows are terminated. To this end, Dr. Wharton spoke to the devastation of the cuts being made by the Trump Administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), noting that many scientists have spent substantial energy and resources pursuing a career in scientific research only to face a hostile environment, leading to concerns that they may leave the industry for a more “viable” career path.

Finally, Dr. Bertagnolli highlighted the importance of basic research, stating that the research needed to create drugs and inform private sector research is “overwhelmingly” funded by the NIH. “A completely different area of research,” said Dr. Bertagnolli, “could also be the key to unlocking something that the public needed in an emergency that is absolutely lifesaving.” To this end, Dr. Johnson added that “the progress of the past two decades have been nothing short of remarkable.” Many Democratic Senators echoed concerns over the loss of research and researchers due to the confusion and uncertainty made by the Trump Administration and DOGE.

A recording of the town hall can be found here.

Trump Administration Actions (all actions available here):

• Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History (3/27/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities (3/20/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy (3/14/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Additional Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions (3/14/25)
• 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 follow the flurry of 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.

Eliminating the Department of Education

As promised on the campaign trail, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) on March 20 that instructs the Education Secretary to begin the process of closing the U.S. Department of Education. The order, Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities, directs the Secretary to “facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” (emphasis added)

The order does not provide a timeline for the process, nor does it include any additional guidance. Education policy experts and advocates are raising serious concerns about the order, including, importantly, the ability to ensure “effective and uninterrupted delivery” of current services, especially in light of recent, massive layoffs at the Department.

Federal agencies can only be created and therefore eliminated by an act of Congress. The Executive Order does not guarantee the closure of the Department of Education. However, the Administration can use its authority to effectively close the agency by eliminating staff, making it practically impossible for the agency to meet its mission.

Visit COSSA’s Action Center to see our alerts related to the Department of Education and threats to education data.

“Restoring” American History

On March 27, the President issued an Executive Order aimed at reversing “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.” The EO, Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, criticizes the Biden Administrations for reconstructing American history in a way that portrays the Nation as “racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.” He cites specific examples of exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.

In response, the EO establishes a policy to “restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness” by:

• Seeking to remove ideological content from Smithsonian properties, including museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo; and
• Ensuring that future Congressional appropriations for the Smithsonian prohibit funding for exhibits and programs that “degrade shared American values…”

In addition, the order addresses the removal of confederate and other controversial statues and monuments in recent years, calling on the Interior Secretary to reinstate monuments that have been removed from federal government jurisdiction since January 1, 2020.

On March 26, the Senate voted to confirm Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as the next Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in a 53-47 vote (see previous COSSA coverage). In his confirmation hearing, Dr. Bhattacharya confirmed that he would prioritize chronic disease research over infectious disease research, aligning with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as investing in cutting edge research.  

The Senate also confirmed Michael Kratsios as the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in a bipartisan 74-25 vote (see previous COSSA coverage). 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. Following his confirmation, he tweeted, “Advancing American dominance in AI, emerging tech, and breakthrough science has never been so critical. Under @POTUS’ leadership, we will unleash the Golden Age of American Innovation!” This is in line with his intent to “prioritize emerging technologies” as OSTP Director. Following the confirmation of Kratsios, President Trump outlined his top priorities in a letter to the new Director, asking;

• How can the United States cement itself as the global leader in emerging technologies?
• How can we “revitalize” America’s science and technology enterprise?
• How can we use scientific progress and technological innovation to fuel economic growth and improve the lives of all Americans?

In the letter, President Trump wrote, “We have the opportunity to cement America’s global technological leadership and usher in the Golden Age of American Innovation.” Paired with Kratsios’ aforementioned priorities, it is expected that OSTP will shift its focus to technology research and innovation.

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

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) is seeking new members for the Board on Human-Systems Integration (BOHSI). Through interdisciplinary research, BOHSI provides stakeholders with objective, evidence-based advice concerning relationships between systems of individuals, organizations, and technology. Experts are requested in several areas, including workforce modeling, artificial intelligence, and traditional HSI specialties.

The announcement can be found here and the deadline to submit nominees is April 14.