Latest from the White House (March 18)
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.
Trump Eliminates Agencies
On March 14, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO), Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, which eliminates several agencies “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” including the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Smithsonian Institution and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), among others. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is a federally funded, non-partisan thinktank that provides essential policy analysis and IMLS is a substantial provider of federal funding for libraries and museums, among other projects. The order determines these agencies to be “unnecessary” and comes as the Trump Administration seeks to eliminate the government “waste”. A fact sheet published by the Administration claims, “President Trump is returning power to local communities and state governments” through these recent actions.
Federal Workforce
Two different U.S. District Judges ruled last week that federal agencies must offer to rehire probationary employees who have been terminated as part of the President’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce. The Administration is expected to appeal the decision, which creates ongoing uncertainty for thousands of federal employees. Democrats in Congress continue to express their concern over these layoffs and organizations within the scientific community are joining the legal fight.
NIH Indirect Cost Policy
In February, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a notice announcing plans to cap indirect cost rates for grantees at 15 percent. The NIH research community responded in force, filing lawsuits, issuing statements, and sending letters to Congress. Within days temporary restraining orders were put in place and a hearing was scheduled in Federal District Court for later in the month.
On March 5, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelly ordered a nation-wide preliminary injunction which keeps the Administration from implementing the policy change while lawsuits continue.
Changing the way NIH pays for facilities and administration (F&A) costs has long been a topic of discussion among policymakers. As such, the topic is not likely to go away, regardless of the final outcome of current lawsuits.
Share your Experience
Several organizations are collecting information on how recent executive actions and budget uncertainty have been affecting the research community. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is collecting responses to a survey, “Assessing the Impacts of Federal Policies on the U.S. STEMM Community.”
In addition, Democrats on the House Science Committee set up a resource for federal employees who may have been laid off to confidentially share their experience. Check out the ACT NOW! section of this newsletter for other ways you can help.