Issue 19 (October 6)

The most recent Why Social Science? post comes from Alycia Chin (US Securities and Exchange Commission) and Baruch Fischhoff (Carnegie Mellon University) highlighting three key examples of work done by social and behavioral scientists that have affected American life in essential ways.

Read on for more.

Senators and House Members are now back in their states and districts campaigning ahead of the November midterm elections. Both chambers are expected to reconvene November 9 for the lame duck session. Immediately confronting lawmakers will be the fiscal year (FY) 2027 appropriations bills, for which Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) last month pushing the deadline to December 11. The path forward for completing the FY 2027 process—FY 2027 officially began on October 1—will likely depend heavily on the outcome of the elections and which party will control each chamber next year. Lawmakers may decide to complete work on FY 2027 during the lame duck session so the 120th Congress, which will be sworn in on January 3, 2027, can start fresh. Or, if either chamber flips to Democratic control, the funding bills could be pushed into next year, giving the new majority control over the final product. 

Six Republican Senators penned a letter to Trump Administration officials last month raising concern about “the potential effects of terminating ongoing, multi-year research grants after significant federal resources have already been invested,” specifically at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Instead, the letter, which is signed by Sens. David H. McCormick (R-PA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) and Steve Daines (R-MT), asks that efforts be made to modify funded projects that may not currently align with Administration priorities to “help advance the Administration’s objectives while preserving the value of taxpayer investments already made.”

Sen. McCormick also authored an op-ed in the Washington Post last month calling for a redoubling of the NIH budget over the next five years among other reforms. 

The President issued a so-called pocket rescission on September 25 canceling $810 million in already appropriated funding for fiscal year (FY) 2026, citing “wasteful and harmful government spending that does not benefit American citizens.”

Within the rescission are cuts for immigration services and several health and education programs, such as the Department of Education’s International Education and Foreign Language programs. Also included are rescissions to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health, climate change initiatives, and programs dealing with transgender/gender identity and racism within the healthcare system.

The legality of the move is in question. The Administration contends that it can rescind, or “impound,” already-appropriated funds without Congressional approval if said rescission occurs within 45 days of the end of the fiscal year and Congress is not in session to respond. However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that pocket rescissions are illegal given that impoundment requires action by Congress. A lawsuit was filed in California on September 30 calling for the rescission to be blocked, citing violation of the Constitution’s spending clause. Members of Congress have also started speaking out against the rescission. This is a developing story. 

The original 30-day comment period for a Census Bureau proposed rule, Decennial Census of the Population of Americans; Proposed Residence Criteria and Proposed Regulations for Demographic Questions, has been extended to November 2 (originally October 13). If implemented, the proposed rule would mark a significant change to the 2030 Census, specifically by excluding non-U.S. citizens without a green card from apportionment used to set Congressional districts. It would also remove race and ethnicity questions from the decennial. The Census Project has been covering the issue in detail.

Given the dramatic changes proposed, the deadline extension for public comment is welcome news. Submit your comments at regulations.gov by November 2. 

Trump Administration Actions (all actions available here):

• Inaugurating the Era of Super Intelligence (9/29/26)
• Enhancing Program Integrity and Interagency Coordination in the Administration of the H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Program (9/18/26)
• Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution (7/24/26)
• Implementing Schedule Policy/Career in the Excepted Service (6/3/26) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security (6/2/26)
• Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors (3/26/26) 
• Addressing Addiction through the Great American Recovery Initiative (1/29/26)
• Memorandum: Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that are Contrary to the Interests of the United States (1/7/26)
• Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research (12/18/25)
• Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence (12/11/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• President’s Management Agenda (12/8/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Launching the Genesis Mission (11/24/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Ensuring Continued Accountability in Federal Hiring (10/15/25)
• Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Administration Research and Development Budget Priorities and Cross-Cutting Actions (9/23/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers (9/19/25)
• Memorandum: Use of Appropriated Funds for Illegal Lobbying and Partisan Political Activity by Federal Grantees (8/28/25)
• Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking (MORE INFORMATION) (8/7/25)
• Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions (MORE INFORMATION) (8/7/25)
• Preventing Woke AI in the Federal Government (MORE INFORMATION) (7/23/25)
• Creating Schedule G in the Excepted Service (7/17/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Memorandum: Ensuring Accountability and Prioritizing Public Safety in Federal Hiring (7/7/25)
• Establishing the President’s Make America Beautiful Again Commission (7/3/25)
• Enhancing National Security by Addressing Risks at Harvard University (6/4/25)
• Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats (6/4/25)
• Restoring Gold Standard Science (5/23/25) (MORE INFORMATION)
• Increasing Efficiency at the Office of the Federal Register (5/9/25)
• Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research (5/5/25)
• Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research (5/5/25)
• 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)
• 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.