Issue 9 (April 29)

On April 24, Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan tendered his resignation as Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Earlier this month, NSF announced the termination of 400 grants, targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, research on misinformation and disinformation, as well as other areas that did not align with the agency’s new priorities (see related article). His resignation also comes after reports that the White House directed NSF to slash its budget by 55 percent.

During his term at NSF, Dr. Panchanathan, who was nominated to lead the agency by President Trump in 2020, led the agency through many advancements, including the bipartisan Congressional reauthorization of NSF and the establishment of the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP). In his announcement, Panchanathan wrote: “It has been an honor and privilege to serve as the Director of NSF for the last five years. I believe I have done all I can to advance the critical mission of the agency and feel that it is time for me to pass the baton to new leadership.”

After a two-week recess, Congress has returned to Capitol Hill determined to make progress on reconciliation legislation with an eye toward enacting one “big, beautiful bill” to extend the Trump Administration’s tax breaks. As previously reported by COSSA, Congress passed a reconciliation blueprint through the House and Senate in March. The blueprint directs Congressional committees to identify cuts to agencies and programs under their jurisdiction and, over the past weekend, the House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) and House Armed Services Committee (HASC) released their draft bills. In these bills, $69 billion would be allocated to border security and $150 billion to defense priorities. More committees are expected to release their draft bills in the coming weeks, with some members of Congress indicating that final passage will take place before the month-long August recess.

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

On April 10, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) passback budget was leaked to the public. A passback budget is a preliminary proposal in which Federal Agencies and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) negotiate discretionary funding and legislative priorities for inclusion in the Presidential Budget Request (PBR). It should not be considered the final version to be included in the PBR when it is released.

Notable provisions within the leaked passback:

• A reorganization of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including collapsing its 27 institutes and centers (ICs) into eight. This is a more extreme directive than previous proposals made by Congress, including a framework published by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers and the fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations bill released by the House last July (see previous COSSA coverage).
• Significant cuts to health agencies, including:
  • 40 percent cut to the NIH budget, decreasing their budget to $27.3 billion.
  • 44 percent cut to the CDC budget, decreasing their budget to $5.2 billion.
• A policy directive to cap the NIH indirect cost rate at 15 percent (see previous COSSA coverage).
• A new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), which would absorb the following priorities:
  • Maternal and Child Health
  • Mental Health
  • Environmental Health
  • HIV/AIDS
• Various programs would be moved to different agencies:
  • The National Center for Health Statistics (NCES) and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), both currently housed under CDC, would be moved under the jurisdiction of AHA.
  • The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) would be housed under AHA.
  • The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) would be consolidated into the new Office of Strategy.

The Presidential Budget Request (PBR) is rumored to be released in May with the possibility of a skinny budget sooner. Stay tuned to COSSA’s continued coverage on the new Administration.

Trump Administration Actions (all actions available here):

• Strengthening Probationary Periods in the Federal Service (4/24/25)
• White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (4/23/25)
• Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education (4/23/25)
• PROPOSED RULE: Improving Performance, Accountability, and the Civil Service (4/23/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities (4/23/25)
• Extension of Hiring Freeze (4/17/25) 
• 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

Find COSSA’s full list of Trump’s Executive Actions and more information here or on the Social Science Space Tracker.

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.

DOGE Arrives at NSF

Earlier this month, the President’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the group led by Elon Musk, arrived at the National Science Foundation (NSF). A chain of serious events followed their visit, underscoring the power bestowed on DOGE to upend existing agency operations.

The team of DOGE officials arrived at NSF on April 14; by the end of the week, more than 400 grants would be terminated and external advisory committees “de-established.” A second round of grant terminations occurred on April 25 and the NSF Director resigned April 24.

The reason given for the recent grant terminations, according to the NSF website, Updates on NSF priorities, is that they were found to run afoul of the President’s Executive Order (EO) on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The NSF website states:

“NSF’s broadening participation activities, including activities undertaken in fulfillment of the Broader Impacts criterion, and research on broadening participation, must aim to create opportunities for all Americans everywhere.

These efforts should not preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups. Research projects with more narrow impact limited to subgroups of people based on protected class or characteristics do not effectuate NSF priorities.”

The elimination of NSF advisory committees, including those for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate and the STEM Education Directorate (EDU), was said to be in response to the President’s EO on Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.

Late last week, following these dramatic developments, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan resigned, stating in an email to staff that “I believe I have done all I can do to advance the mission of the agency and feel that it is time for me to pass the baton to new leadership.” Panchanathan’s six-year term was set to end next year; he was originally appointed by Trump in 2020.

The Community Responds

The research community and champions in Congress alike have come out in strong opposition to the actions of the last few weeks.

On April 17, the House Science Committee Democrats released a minority staff report specifically criticizing a report authored by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) in October 2024 accusing NSF of spending $2 billion on grants “that promoted neo-Marxist perspectives or DEI tenets.” The staff report, and a letter to NSF from Science Committee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), call out the erroneous methods used in the Cruz report and question the decision by NSF to use similar methods for determining which grants are to the eliminated.

In addition, researchers directly affected by the grant terminations are contributing to a database that allows the public to see which grants have been terminated. According to the website, “We are tracking these grants to increase transparency, organize affected PIs, and facilitate responses, including via litigation. Please share the form as widely as possible with your networks.”

On April 21, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya presented his vision for NIH during a meeting of the NIH Council of Councils. The Council consists of approximately 30 members, selected from the various NIH Institute and Center (IC) Advisory Councils, representatives nominated by the Office of the Director program offices, and broad lay representation. It advises the NIH Director on matters related to the policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI). As previously reported by COSSA, Bhattacharya was confirmed as NIH Director in late March. During his first public remarks since being confirmed, he offered a vision for the future of NIH, which included improving the overall health of the population and prioritizing reproducibility in research.

Research Priorities

In line with Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial announcement that he would prioritize finding the cause of autism and associative conditions within six months, Bhattacharya announced a new initiative. According to Bhattacharya, NIH will develop a real-world data platform to create a database of people with autism and associative conditions that blends data from multiple sources, including public and private sectors. He further indicated that similar databases could be made for diseases using the same framework and announced a six-month implementation timeline. Bhattacharya also reinforced his priority of understanding and developing treatments for chronic diseases.

Bhattacharya went on to discuss his concerns regarding the reproducibility of research within NIH, arguing that the COVID-19 pandemic exasperated a lack of trust due to the “suppression” of scientist’s ability to dissent, particularly with respect to basic research. To encourage replication research, he announced that NIH will establish a new scientific journal to expand opportunities for researchers to win awards for replication research. In addition to replication research, Bhattacharya reinforced that he would prioritize making “big” advancements with NIH research and expressed his commitment to prohibiting gain-of-function research in the agency, which was also included in the NIH reform framework published by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers last year (see previous COSSA coverage) and has been a source of controversy since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the Trump Administration

Earlier this month, a leaked HHS passback budget surfaced, sparking concern within the research community that NIH could see a budget reduction of nearly 40 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2026 (see related article). The document also included a reorganization proposal to collapse the 27 research institutes and centers into 8. These directives are notably more extreme than previous proposals made by Congress, including the aforementioned framework published by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers and the fiscal year (FY) 2025 appropriations bill released by the House last July (see COSSA’s analysis). When questioned about the leaked budget, Bhattacharya reiterated that it was the “beginning of a negotiation” and that he would continue to advocate for NIH. He went on to clarify that any reorganization efforts should have a distinct purpose, and he claimed to have no intention of making any decisions without “lots of advice” from the community.

Finally, in reference to recent executive actions made by the Trump Administration, Bhattacharya argued that some disruptions are “good,” including the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative pioneered by the HHS Secretary (see list of EO’s here). He claimed that the mission of the NIH would continue despite the current scrutiny of the federal government, although he recognized concerns from researchers regarding research funding and reductions in force (RIFs).

A webcast of Bhattacharya’s remarks can be found here. 

On April 24, the Society for Research in Child Development’s (SRCD) announced that Dr. Suzanne Le Menestrel has been appointed as the Executive Director. Dr. Le Menestrel has been acting as SRCD’s Interim Executive Director since December 2024 and initially joined the Society through her appointment to Director of Science Affairs in 2022. Dr. Le Menestrel has provided oversight of SRCD’s peer-reviewed journals, grants, awards, and fellowships; collaborated with the executive leadership team on special scientific initiatives; led professional development and scientific content on behalf of SRCD’s 4,000+ members; and built relationships with scientific collaborators, both within the U.S. and internationally.

Dr. Le Menestrel holds a B.S. in psychology from St. Lawrence University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in human development and family studies from The Pennsylvania State University. She also has a nonprofit management executive certificate from Georgetown University, and she is a certified association executive.

COSSA looks forward to continuing to work with Dr. Le Menestrel. SRCD is a COSSA governing organization. Read more about the appointment here.

On April 10, in conjunction with the Population Association of America (PAA) 2025 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, PAA sponsored a large advocacy day in which over 100 scientists from 30 states participated in meetings with their congressional delegations. PAA sponsors a large advocacy day whenever its annual meeting is held in Washington, DC. The last two events, in 2016 and 2012, attracted over 80 individuals, making this year’s event truly record-breaking.

Population scientists went to Capitol Hill to share examples of their federally funded research as well as to promote greater understanding of how data produced by federal statistical agencies are used to conduct research and research training. In addition, the participants shared their concerns regarding the impact that recent Administration policies have had on their research, students, and institutions. PAA members also shared the organization’s Fiscal Year 2026 funding priorities, which included requests to provide robust funding for the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Census Bureau, and other statistical agencies and to restore the National Center for Education Statistics and Social Security Administration’s Retirement and Disability Research cooperative agreements program.

PAA hopes the event provided population scientists with a unique opportunity to initiate relationships with the offices of their U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators. Further, PAA supported the event to enhance federal policymakers’ understanding of the field and the challenges it is facing.

The article above was originally posted on the PAA website. PAA is a COSSA governing organization.