Trump Administration
Trump Administration
Latest from the White House (February 18)
As previously reported, the Trump Administration has from day one been issuing a dizzying number of executive actions, some whose legality remain in question. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Federal Workforce Last week, as part of an Executive Order on “workforce optimization,” the President’s Office of Personnel Management directed federal agencies to fire “trial and probationary” employees, providing little other guidance on how to do it. Typically, probationary employees are those within 1-3 years of service in their position. Democratic lawmakers and government worker unions are pushing back, arguing the long-term damage that…
Dorothy Fink Chosen to Serve as Acting HHS Secretary; Appoints Matthew Memoli as Acting NIH Director
Dorothy Fink M.D. has been appointed by President Trump to serve as acting Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) as confirmation hearings for the presidential nominee for the position, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., continue. Fink previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health and Director of the Office on Women’s Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH). Shortly after her appointment, Fink tapped Matthew Memoli, M.D., to serve as acting Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as the Senate works to confirm Jay Bhattacharya (see previous COSSA coverage). Memoli, a National Institute of Allergy and…
Census Bureau Director Rob Santos Tenders Resignation
On January 30, Census Bureau Director Robert Santos resigned three years into his five-year term. His resignation comes after the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on the Census Bureau on December 5 which largely focused on whether the 2030 Census should include a citizenship question and President Trump’s recent rescission of the Biden Administration’s Executive Order (EO) affirming that the census should count all people, not only citizens, as per the 14th Amendment (see previous COSSA coverage). As a reminder, during his first-term, the Trump Administration attempted to add a citizenship question to the decennial census only for the Supreme Court to…
119th Congressional Committee Assignments and Presidential Nomination Hearings Begin
As previously reported by COSSA, the 119th Congress was sworn in early January and has since begun announcing committee assignments, including key committees for the social and behavioral science research community. This includes the House Science and Technology Committee, which has appointed Representative Brian Babin (R-TX) as Chairman, replacing Frank Lucas (R-OK) (see previous COSSA coverage). Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) will remain in her role as expected. On the House Appropriations Committee, Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) will remain in his role, as will Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). On January 15, Chairman Cole released the Republican roster while Ranking Member DeLauro released the Democratic roster…
Trump Announces Appointments to Science Team
On December 22, President-elect Trump announced on Truth Social his picks for top White House science positions. Michael Kratsios, an alum of the first Trump Administration, will be nominated as Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Kratsios previously served as Trump’s Chief Technology Officer and later as Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in DOD. Kratsios will also serve as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, known commonly as the President’s Science Advisor. The OSTP position requires Senate confirmation, but the Science Advisor does not. Kratsios holds a BA in politics from…
President-Elect Trump Nominates Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to Lead NIH
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy at Stanford University, as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Notably, Bhattacharya was a critic of the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and was the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, Murthy v. Missouri, where he argued that he was “unfairly censored” on social media by the government for his views on the issue. While the case gained national attention, it was ultimately unsuccessful in a 6-3 ruling. About the nomination, Trump said, “Dr. Bhattacharya will work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr….
Trump Names David Sacks as AI Czar/PCAST Head
On December 4, President-elect Trump announced his plan to appoint tech venture capitalist and PayPal cofounder David Sacks to a new “AI czar” position and advisor on cryptocurrency in the next Administration. The announcement also states that Sacks will lead the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). While little more detail is known about Trump’s plan for PCAST, the naming of Sacks as chair signals that the council will be maintained in Trump’s second term. This is notable particularly because during Trump’s first term, PCAST was not reconstituted until almost three years into his term. This is a developing story.
Dillingham Leaves Census Bureau After Whistleblower Complaints About Noncitizen Data Release
Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham announced his departure, effective January 20, eleven months before the end of his term. The announcement comes after whistleblower complaints came to light that Dillingham and senior political appointees were pressuring Census Bureau employees to rush the publication of a potentially “statistically indefensible” data report on noncitizens. Dillingham’s public announcement of his resignation included a response to questions posed by the Department of Commerce Inspector General’s Office regarding the noncitizens report. Dillingham’s announcement also notes that he has respect for President-elect Biden and had prepared, after requests from the Biden transition team, to stay on…
Trump Names New NIFA Director
In December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the appointment of Dr. Carrie Castille as the director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the Department’s extramural research agency. Dr. Castille has worked on Farm Production and Conservation as well as Rural Development within USDA and previously served as an Assistant Professor of Agriculture at Louisiana State University. Dr. Castille’s six-year term began on January 4, 2021. She succeeds Acting Director Parag Chitnis, who led the agency following J. Scott Angle’s departure in July 2020, two years into his six-year term.
COSSA and NIH Minority Health Institute Discuss COVID-19 Response
On September 23 as a member of the steering committee of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, COSSA Executive Director Wendy Naus participated in a webinar (video recording) for Congressional staff featuring a discussion with Dr. Eliseo Perez-Stable, Director of the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The webinar is the first in a series organized by the Ad Hoc Group and the Coalition for Health Funding aimed at raising the visibility of NIH’s individual institutes and centers on Capitol Hill, specifically as their work relates to COVID-19 response….
USDA Names New ERS Administrator
Dr. Spiro Stefanou has been appointed to lead the Economic Research Service (ERS), one of the two principal statistics agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Stefanou is an agricultural economist who previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Florida and at Penn State University. Stefanou will be taking the helm of an agency that has had a rocky several years, after the Administration’s controversial decision to move the agency to Kansas City led to significant attrition and loss of expertise at the agency. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Sethuraman Panchanathan Confirmed as Next NSF Director
On June 18, the Senate confirmed Sethuraman Panchanathan to be the 15th Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), an agency that had been without a Senate-confirmed director since France CĂłrdova’s term expired in March. Panchanathan, who was nominated to lead the agency in January, holds a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering and serves as the Executive Vice President of Knowledge Enterprise Development and as Chief Research and Innovation Officer at Arizona State University. He has also served on the National Science Board since 2014. The timeline for the Senate to consider Panchanathan’s nomination was delayed significantly by the…
White House Launches Search for Chief Statistician
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has posted a vacancy announcement for the position of Chief Statistician of the United States, following the departure of former Chief Statistician Nancy Potok at the end of 2019. The Chief Statistician oversees OMB’s Statistical Policy and Science Branch and is responsible for implementing cross-agency data and statistics policies, including the Federal Data Strategy and the implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. The window for applications closes on June 29. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
Lawmakers Break for Memorial Day Recess with Packed June Agenda in the Wings
When the Senate returns next week, lawmakers will look to move the fiscal year (FY) 2021 National Defenses Authorization Act (NDAA), which, like annual appropriations bills, is seen as “must pass” legislation as its sets annual spending levels for the Department of Defense. The NDAA is an especially important piece of legislation to watch this year given that, as one of few annual “must pass” bills, it is viewed as a potential vehicle for other, sometimes unrelated policy proposals (see the article on the Endless Frontiers Act). Work also continues on the FY 2021 appropriations bills. Despite the pandemic, lawmakers…
OSTP Director Kelvin Droegemeier Named Acting NSF Director
Kelvin Droegemeier, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), has been named the acting director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) until the Senate confirms a permanent successor to the previous NSF Director, France CĂłrdova. CĂłrdova finished her six-year term heading the agency in March 2020 (see previous COSSA coverage for more details). The White House announced the nomination of Sethuraman Panchanathan as NSF Director in January 2020, however the timeline for the Senate to consider Panchanathan’s nomination has been made unclear by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to his tenure as OSTP Director, Droegemeier…
France CĂłrdova Ends Tenure as NSF Director; Timeline for Confirming New Director Unclear
National Science Foundation (NSF) Director France CĂłrdova finished her six-year term as the head of the agency on March 31, 2020. CĂłrdova, an astrophysicist and former Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California at Santa Barbara, served as NSF Director since 2014. A farewell message from CĂłrdova to NSF staff is available on the NSF website. In January 2020, the White House announced the nomination of Sethuraman Panchanathan to succeed CĂłrdova as NSF Director (see COSSA’s previous coverage). However, no hearing has yet been scheduled for Panchanathan’s consideration for the Senate-confirmed position due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic….
NCHS Taps BEA Director Brian Moyer to Lead Agency
On March 9, the CDC’s Deputy Director for Public Health Science and Surveillance announced the selection of Brian Moyer as the next Director of the National Center for Health Statistics, effective March 30. Moyer is currently the Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis within the Commerce Department. Jennifer Madans has been NCHS’s acting director since the retirement of former director Charlie Rothwell at the end of 2018. It is expected that BEA’s Deputy Director Mary Bohman will take over as acting director of BEA following Moyer’s departure. Back to this issue’s table of contents.
NIMHD Names Psychologist Monica Webb Hooper Deputy Director
The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced the selection of Dr. Monica Webb Hooper as its new Deputy Director. Dr. Webb Hooper comes from Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, where she is a professor of oncology, family medicine, and psychological sciences. She has also served as Associate Director for Cancer Disparities Research and Director of the Office of Cancer Disparities Research at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. She comes to NIMHD with years of expertise in minority health and cancer-related health disparities spanning multiple disadvantaged populations….
COSSA Sends Letter in Support of Panchanathan Nomination to Lead NSF
On January 21, COSSA submitted a letter to leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in support of the nomination of Sethuraman Panchanathan to be the next Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) (see previous coverage). The letter notes that “Dr. Panchanathan has a strong and clear vision on the role of research and innovation in ensuring our nation’s leadership in the global economy, and we are pleased to lend our collective voices in support of his nomination.” Panchanathan was nominated in December for a six-year term following the upcoming retirement of current NSF Director France…
Sethuraman Panchanathan Nominated to Lead National Science Foundation
The White House announced on December 19 that President Trump intends to nominate Sethuraman Panchanathan to a six-year term as Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Current NSF Director France CĂłrdova’s term ends in March. Panchanathan has been a member of the National Science Board since 2014 and leads “knowledge enterprise development” at Arizona State University (ASU). Panchanathan holds his doctorate in electrical and computer engineering and was central in founding the School of Computing and Informatics and the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing at ASU. Following CĂłrdova’s retirement in March, Panchanathan’s nomination will require approval by the Senate….