Executive Branch News
Department of Education Receives Recommendations to Reform IES
On February 27, Department of Education Senior Advisor Dr. Amber Northern delivered a report, Reimagining the Institute of Education Sciences, to Secretary Linda McMahon with recommendations on how to reform the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The report comes after Northern was appointed to the role in May in an effort to âmodernizeâ the agency (see previous coverage). In September, the Department of Education also released a request for public comment on restructuring the agency, which reportedly influenced Northernâs recommendations (see previous coverage). About the report, she said: âIES has set the standard for high-quality education research these last 25 years,…
Science Agency Leadership Shakeups Continue
The White House recently announced plans to nominate Jim OâNeill as the next Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), placing a longtime health policy official and private-sector investor at the helm of the nationâs premier basic science funding agency. OâNeill most recently served as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (see previous coverage). Earlier in his career, OâNeill worked at the Department of Health and Human Services during the administration of George W. Bush. He later moved into the private sector, investing in emerging technologies, including through the Thiel Foundationâs Breakout Labs program, which supports…
Stuart Levenbach Quietly Assumes Role as U.S. Chief Statistician
According to the White House Office of Management and Budgetâs (OMB) Interagency Council on Statistical Policy, Stuart Levenbach has been appointed to serve as Chair of the Council, a position that is, by law, held by the U.S. Chief Statistician. OMB quietly updated its website to reflect his new role, replacing Mark Calabria, who assumed the role of Chief Statistician after the departure of Karin Orvis at the start of the Trump Administrationâs second term in 2025. Notably, the position does not require Senate confirmation. Previously, Levenbach had been nominated by the Trump Administration to serve as the head of the Consumer…
NIH Reclassifies Basic Experimental Studies Involving Humans
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that Basic Experimental Studies Involving Humans (BESH) will no longer be classified as clinical trials under the NIH Clinical Trial Definition. The change applies to applications submitted on or after May 25, 2026. NIH originally expanded its clinical trial definition in 2014 to include BESH as part of an effort to improve transparency and results reporting. The revised definition meant that social and behavioral science research funded by NIH that involved human subjects would need to abide by the same reporting rules as studies more traditionally viewed as clinical trials. The move was controversial at the time…
OPM Final Rule Expands Excepted Service, Raises Workforce Concerns
The White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has finalized a sweeping rule that expands the use of the excepted service by creating âSchedule Policy/Career,â a new category covering career employees in policy-influencing roles (see previous coverage). While OPM frames the change as a way to improve accountability and responsiveness, critics warn it weakens long-standing civil service protections. Under the rule, career employees (e.g., nonpolitical appointees) whose roles are of a âconfidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating characterâ may be reclassified into Schedule Policy/Career. They will retain competitive status but lose key procedural protections, including appeal rights for adverse actions and performance-based removals. OPM…
NIH Requests Public Input on New Human Data Protection Policies
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking public comment on a proposed update to its human research data policies, including a new NIH Controlled-Access Data Policy and revisions to the NIH Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy. According to the request for information (RFI), the goal is to strengthen privacy and security protections, clarify requirements, and reduce duplicative burdens across NIH programs. The proposed Controlled-Access Data Policy would define which human participant data must be shared through controlled-access systems, including personal identifiers, genomic and other âomicsâ data, health and financial information, facial imaging, and individual-level clinical trial data. It would also establish consistent security and…
Congress Returns from Two-Week; Appropriations Front and Center
As previously reported by COSSA, Congress closed out 2025 with a continuing resolution (CR) that ended a historic 43-day government shutdown and punted the appropriations deadline for fiscal year (FY) 2026 to January 31. While there were rumors of a potential second year-long CR for FY 2026, Congress returned from their two-week recess with agreements on final funding levels for several remaining bills. Last week, House and Senate leaders released a three-bill package that includes the Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) billâwhich provides funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the National Institute…
Latest from the White House (January 13)
In December, the White House released the Presidentâs Management Agenda (PMA). Administrations have been issuing PMAs since the George W. Bush presidency in 2001. The agendas represent the Presidentâs strategy for improving the management and performance of the federal government by identifying specific goals and metrics. Its signature feature has been a scorecard that tracks progress by each federal agency across several measures, such as human capital or budget performance. Each Administration puts their own spin on the PMA; however, they have traditionally built off their predecessorâs agendas to ensure continuity in government improvement. However, the Trump Administrationâs PMA released last month reads…
ICYMI: New Executive Order Takes Aim at State AI Laws
On December 11, the White House issued its latest Executive Order (EO) related to artificial intelligence (AI), Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence. The order states its aim to allow companies to innovate by eliminating âcumbersome regulationâ at the federal level through the establishment of a âminimally burdensome national policy framework for AI.â Until national standards governing AI can be established, the EO directs the Attorney General to form an âAI Litigation Task Forceâ responsible for identifying and challenging state laws that appear inconsistent with the federal policy. Through the evaluation the Task Force will be looking for state laws…
NSF Seeks Input on New Tech Labs InitiativeâDue January 20
The National Science Foundation (NSF), through its Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate, has launched a new initiative aimed at accelerating âpractical research with real-world applications.â Tech Labs will support research, development and innovation (RDI) teams âfocused on overcoming persistent barriers to the commercialization of emerging technologies.â According to the announcement, these teams âwill focus on technical challenges and bottlenecks that traditional university and industry labs cannot easily solve on their own.â NSF is seeking public input through a request for information. Comments are due January 20. In addition, NSF is hosting an informational webinar on January 14 (register here).
National Science Board Releases Anticipated Merit Review Report
As previously reported, the National Science Board (NSB), which is the policy-making body of the National Science Foundation (NSF), created a Commission on Merit Review in 2023 to take a fresh look at NSFâs current merit review criteria and make recommendations for potential improvement or modernization. After several delays, the Commission released its report on December 17. The report, Merit Review for a Changing Landscape, contains an in-depth evaluation of NSFâs longstanding review process and makes several recommendations, including: The release of the NSB report comes on the heels of new Merit Review rules that took effect December 15, 2025. Among the changes announced…
Request for Information: Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise
Before the Thanksgiving break, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a request for information (RFI) on Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise. The RFI states that advances in scientific opportunity, like artificial intelligence and quantum computing, coupled with intensified global competition âcall for a comprehensive assessment of how the federal government prioritizes and structures scientific research.â The RFI is asking stakeholders to respond to 13 questions that âwill inform the formulation of Executive branch efforts to advance and maintain U.S. S&T leadership.â Questions cover topics such as funding mechanisms that could improve public-private collaborations, ways to support…
ICYMI: NIH Modifies Funding Strategy, Moves Away from Paylines
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a notice on November 21 outlining a framework for âImplementing a Unified NIH Funding Strategy to Guide Consistent and Clearer Award Decisions.â The notice follows on an August statement from the NIH Director. The framework describes a need to âbalance many competing and dynamic factors when determining the most meritorious research ideas to support,â such as peer review, availability of funds, and health priorities, among others. Starting with the January 2026 Councils, all NIH institutes and centers (ICs) will be expected to follow the same funding policies, including the following core tenets: In addition, the notice…
Trump Administration launches AI-focused âGenesis Missionâ
On November 24, the White House issued an executive order (EO), Launching the Genesis Mission. It is the latest action by the Trump Administration seeking to establish American leadership in artificial intelligence (AI). Genesis Mission, according to the EO, will âunleash a new age of AI-accelerated innovation and discoveryâ by â[building] an integrated AI platform to harness Federal scientific datasetsâthe worldâs largest collection of such datasets, developed over decades of Federal investmentsâto train scientific foundation models and create AI agents to test new hypotheses, automate research workflows, and accelerate scientific breakthroughs.â The Department of Energy (DOE) is tasked with implementing the mission with…
NSF Downsizes its Physical Location
Earlier this month the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the location of the new Alexandria, VA headquarters of the National Science Foundation (NSF). As previously reported, it was announced in July that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would be taking over the NSF headquarters building later this year. At the time, it was not clear where NSFâs 1600 employees would be relocated. NSF will now be collocated with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which is less than a half mile away from NSFâs current location. The announcement states the move is part of the Trump Administrationâs…
Federal Agencies Reopen with Uncertainty
The 44-day government shutdown created chaos and uncertainty across federal agencies. Now that the government has reopened, federal employees are back to work but face new uncertainties about the future. Acting Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Brian Stone circulated a memo to staff outlining the agencyâs plans for resuming its activities. According to the memo, priority will be placed on processing backpay for employees and restoring NSFâs capacity to make awards. However, the memo explains that as a result of the lapse in funding, the agency will not be able to administer all of its programs as planned. The memo…
Trump Announces Several Interagency Agreements under the Department of Education
On November 18, President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced several interagency agreements (IAA), including partnerships with the Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to the provided fact sheets (see below), the Department of Education âwill maintain all statutory responsibility and will continues its oversight of these programs,â but will yield other responsibilities through these partnerships. The announced IAAs include: Notably, in both the Presidentâs Budget Request (PBR) and the House fiscal year (FY) 2026 bill, IEFLS would see its funding terminated (see COSSAâs analyses). In the provided fact sheet, it notes that…
ICYMI: Graduates of U.S. Institutions Exempt from $100,000 H-1B Fee, Questions Remain
In September, a White House proclamation, Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers, was issued stating, âthe entry into the United States of aliens as nonimmigrants to perform services in a specialty occupation under [the H-1B visa program], is restricted, except for those aliens whose petitions are accompanied or supplemented by a payment of $100,000.â The fee applies to petitions filed after September 21, 2025. The announcement caused concern and confusion across the higher education and research communities, including whether the fee is intended for private sector employers or if it would also apply to U.S. colleges and universities who rely…
HHS Cancels USPSTFâs November Meeting
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an independent panel that makes recommendations on clinical preventive services and health promotion, has had their November meeting cancelled by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), blaming the government shutdown despite no federal employees serving on the task force. This is the second meeting cancelled this year; the task force traditionally meets three times a year to review and revise recommendations. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly indicated intent to overhaul the task force, potentially through a similar replacement of the committee members as seen with the Centers for…
Latest from the White House (October 28)
Universities Reject Trumpâs Higher Education Compact As previously reported, nine of the nationâs leading research universities received letters from the White House earlier this month urging that they agree to the Administrationâs Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. The Compact lays out several conditions that align with the Presidentâs agenda and ideology. In exchange, universities that sign on would perceive preferential treatment for federal funding, including research grants. The original nine universities were given until October 20 to respond with feedback. Since then, MIT was the first university to officially reject the offer, stating âIn our view, Americaâs leadership in science and innovation…