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NSF Skips SBE Funding Opportunity, Limits GRFP Eligibility
Over the summer the National Science Foundation (NSF) took several actions that appear to further the Administration’s plans to shut down the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE). As COSSA has been reporting, the President’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2027 included a proposal to dismantle the SBE directorate and spread any remaining SBE activities across other directorates. While the proposal is intended for implementation next fiscal year, which starts October 1, 2026, the research community has been raising concerns that actions are already being taken to downsize SBE this year. Two recent actions provide further evidence of the…
New Action Alert: Urge Congress to Save NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate!
As COSSA has been reporting, the Trump Administration has proposed eliminating the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate in FY 2027. Advocates have been working tirelessly over the last several months to demonstrate to Congress the importance of SBE and the critical contributions made by social and behavioral science research. In fact, nearly 3,000 letters have been sent to Congress in response to COSSA’s Action Alert issued earlier this spring, urging lawmakers to save SBE. Our work is not done. Too many Members of Congress remain unaware of this issue and need to be contacted immediately….
House Passes CR Ahead of August Recess
As August recess rapidly approaches, the House Appropriations Committee passed a continuing resolution (CR) to extend current funding beyond the end of the fiscal year on September 30, to December 4. Notably, six Democrats broke rank with their party to support the stopgap measure, including Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Don Davis (D-NC), Jared Golden (D-ME), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), and Gabe Vasquez (D-NM). Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the only Republican Congressman to vote against the bill. Generally, it is rare for Congress to enact a CR more than two months before the end of the fiscal year….
White House Issues ‘Golden Age of Science’ Report and 2028 Research Priorities
Earlier this month, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) release a report, Science: A New Golden Age. The report calls for a shift in the way research is funded in the U.S. and centers on Trump Administration priorities in emerging areas like AI. OSTP Director Michael Kratsios discussed the report before the House Science, Space and Technology Committee last week (see related article). The report outlines several recommendations, including expanding opportunities for startups, independent research organizations, nonprofits, and industry partners. To encourage more innovative research, the report argues that traditional peer-review systems often favor consensus over high-risk, high-reward ideas. Among…
COSSA’s Analysis of the FY 2027 House LHHS Appropriations Bill for Federal Science Agencies
On June 9, the House Appropriations Committee advanced its version of the fiscal year (FY) 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations bill, which provides annual appropriations for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Education, Department of Labor, and other agencies. This is the latest bill advanced by the Committee as part of Chairman Tom Cole’s (R-OK) plan to consider all 12 annual spending bills by the July 4 break. While the Senate was scheduled to begin marking up their bills this month, more pressing issues delayed the chamber which…
House Advances LHHS Bill, Senate Delays Markups
On June 5, the House Appropriations Committee released the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill for fiscal year (FY) 2027. The bill was advanced out of the committee in a 34 to 28 vote along party lines. Earlier this year, the President’s request called for sweeping cuts to the federal agencies that fund social and behavioral science research (see analysis). While the House bill still includes cuts to several agencies, the House has largely rejected the deep cuts proposed by the Trump Administration. Notably, exceptions include several programs housed under the Department of Education,…
President Trump Executive Actions
Trump Administration Actions (all actions available here): Find COSSA’s full list of Trump’s Executive Actions and more information here or on the Social Science Space Tracker.
White House Proposes Sweeping Changes to Federal Grant Rules – Comments Due July 13
At the end of May, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a proposed rule, Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance, that would make major changes to the Uniform Guidance governing federal financial assistance, including federal research grants. The rule would implement proposals made by the Trump Administration through various executive orders over the last year, including the Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking order and Restoring Gold Standard Science order, among others. Among the changes are, but not limited to: Proposed changes to the Uniform Guidance have been anticipated for several months. Still the sweeping nature of the changes, if implemented, would fundamentally alter the…
COSSA’s Analysis of the FY 2027 House CJS Appropriations Bill for Federal Science Agencies
The House Appropriations Committee has begun consideration of its fiscal year (FY) 2027 appropriations bills. The Committee is working to approve all 12 funding bills by the end of June. On May 13, the Appropriations Committee reported out the FY 2027 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill, which includes funding proposals for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Census Bureau, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and other agencies. As we saw last year, the FY 2027 House CJS bill includes cuts to federal science agencies but does not go as far as the President’s budget request,…
COSSA’s Analysis of the President’s FY 2027 Budget Request for Social and Behavioral Science
On April 3, the Trump Administration released its budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2027. The document released by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) highlights actions the Administration has taken during its first year in office to cut spending across the federal government, stating that, “The full-year 2026 appropriations bills enacted the first real cut to spending in 12 years…[and] put us on a path to eliminate ineffective Federal agencies that do not serve a useful purpose…” The FY 2027 budget seeks additional cuts, including a 10 percent reduction to non-defense discretionary spending, while proposing a staggering $1.5…
COSSA’s Save SBE Toolkit
As COSSA has been reporting, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) is currently at risk of being eliminated. The Trump Administration’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2027 would zero out funding for SBE starting next fiscal year without providing notice or explanation to the research community. COSSA is working with friends across the scientific community to fight back. We have created a Save SBE webpage with resources you can use in your own efforts to defend SBE and promote the work of the social and behavioral sciences. The latest resource is the SBE Messaging Guide. This document was prepared for…
A Note from COSSA
Friends – As I’m sure you have heard by now, the Trump Administration released its budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2027 last week, which seeks to boost military spending by more than 44 percent by slashing funding for domestic programs. Among the domestic accounts affected are federal science agencies for which, once again, the Administration has put forward budget proposals that would all but hand American science leadership to our global competitors. See the related article below for preliminary details about the budget request. There will always be budget proposals by unsupportive Administrations seeking to cut funding for things they don’t…
Trump Proposes Steep Cuts to Federal Funding in FY 2027 Budget Request
On April 3, the Trump Administration transmitted its fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget request to Congress. Included in the budget request are significant cuts that would decimate the U.S. scientific enterprise, including a repeated proposal to slash the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) budget by more than half (see NSF’s budget proposal here). The Administration has also proposed eliminating funding for NSF’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). Notably in previous appropriations bills, Congress has directed the agency to fully-fund the SBE directorate. The Administration’s proposal also repeats several provisions and reorganization proposals from the previous year’s request, including a proposal to…
Congress Begins FY 2027 Budget Hearings
While Congress continues to grapple with a lapse in funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and President Trump’s push to pass the SAVE Act (H.R. 22), Congressional appropriators have turned their attention to drafting fiscal year (FY) 2027 appropriations legislation. As previously reported, the House Appropriations Committee set deadlines for submitting funding requests for Members earlier this month. Following in the House’s footsteps, the Senate Appropriations Committee released their guidance last week. Deadlines for each subcommittee’s requests can be found here. Congress has also been holding hearings on budget and policy priorities for various departments and agencies, including the National Institutes of…
Analysis of the Final FY 2026 LHHS Appropriations Bills for Federal Science Agencies
Following a brief partial government shutdown, the House of Representatives passed the latest fiscal year (FY) 2026 funding package containing the final budgets for dozens of federal agencies and departments. The package, which comes on the heels of enactment of an earlier omnibus in January (see COSSA’s coverage), includes the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (LHHS) appropriations bill, funding the National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, and other agencies, and four other appropriations bills: the Department of Defense appropriations bill, Financial Services appropriations bill, National Security and Department of State appropriations bill, and the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development…
Congress Looks Forward to FY 2027 and Eyes Potential Second Reconciliation Package
As previously reported, Congress has neared completion of its appropriations process of fiscal year (FY) 2026, aside from the unfinished Homeland Security appropriations bill which remains under a temporary continuing resolution (CR), following the final passage of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) and Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations bills. The final bills for FY 2026 largely rejected the President’s proposal for cuts to several key scientific agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Education, and more. On January 7, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) formally invited President…
Congress Turns to Final Appropriations Bills Following End of Government Shutdown
As previously reported by COSSA, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) that extends fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding through to January 30, 2026, ending the weeks-long government shutdown and giving Appropriators additional time to finish their work on FY 2026 funding. Currently, only three appropriations bills have been enacted into law—each having been attached to the CR—including the Agriculture bill, Legislative Branch bill, and Veteran Affairs bill. Despite delays, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has reiterated that the Senate has plans to consider the Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS), Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS), and Transportation,…
Senate Democrats Break Rank to Pass New Spending Package
Late Monday night, seven Senate Democrats and one Independent joined Senate Republicans to pass a continuing resolution (CR) that would extend fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding through January 30, 2026. As a reminder, FY 2025 was enacted under a year-long CR, funding the federal government with FY 2024 levels. Senate Republicans managed to wrangle the necessary 60 votes with support from Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA), and Angus King (I-ME). Several concessions were reportedly made to secure the agreement, including a…
Nominations Open for NASEM Planning Committee on New Scientific Integrity Workshop
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) is seeking nominations for a planning committee that would be tasked with organizing a new workshop, Enhancing Scientific Integrity: Progress and Opportunities in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. The workshop seeks to address common questions and concerns, including: NASEM is looking for experts in a broad range of areas, including journal editors and publishers; behavioral and social science researchers; professional association leaders; legal/criminology expertise; AI expertise; and ethics. Nominations are due November 7 and can be submitted here.
No End in Sight for Government Shutdown as Congress Clashes Over Expiring ACA Subsidies
On October 1, federal funding lapsed in the absence of a budget for fiscal year (FY) 2026, shutting down the federal government for the first time since the historic thirty-five-day shutdown under President Trump’s first term. As previously reported by COSSA, Senate Democrats clashed with the Republican majority over a House-passed continuing resolution (CR) that did not address Democrats’ concerns over extending the expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, reversing some of the Medicaid cuts enacted in the “big, beautiful bill,” and including language to prohibit funding cuts and pocket recissions. While both parties are generally supportive of extending the ACA subsidies, so far Democrats…