A staple since COSSA’s earliest days, the biweekly COSSA Washington Update newsletter provides members and the public with comprehensive coverage of policy developments impacting social and behavioral science research.Â
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…
COSSA Releases 2025 Annual Report
COSSA’s 2025 Annual Report is now available. Read it to learn more about COSSA’s activities and successes over the past year. Find out how your organization can become a member of COSSA on our website.
Congress Delays Funding Bills to December, Temporarily Blocks Uniform Guidance Changes
As previously reported, before leaving Washington for summer recess the House and Senate each passed versions of a continuing resolution (CR) aimed at avoiding a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends September 30. With the chambers passing different versions of the bill, negotiations on a final CR needed to wait until lawmakers returned to Washington earlier this month. The House passed the Senate version of the CR on September 1, thereby sending it to the President for signature. The funding patch gives members of Congress until December 11 to finalize the FY 2027 appropriations bills, punting the debate until after…
Education Department Latest Agency to Propose Changes to Grant Rules
The U.S. Department of Education has proposed significant changes to its grant regulations that could affect colleges and universities, state education agencies, school districts, and other federal grantees. The proposed rule, published August 24, 2026, is open for public comment through September 23, 2026. The proposal incorporates several concepts from the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposed revisions to the Uniform Guidance (see COSSA’s coverage). Those broader changes have been delayed amid congressional action (see related story), but the Education Department’s proposal signals that federal agencies appear to be moving forward with similar reforms absent a finalized OMB rule. The National Science Foundation (NSF)…
American Physical Society Seeking Input into the Future of NSF
The American Physical Society (APS) is seeking partnerships with the broader research community to develop recommendations to potentially shape the future activities of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The initiative, called NSF Forward, welcomes ideas from all disciplines and sectors. Submissions are due September 14.
Save the Date: 2026 AERA Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research
Join the American Educational Research Association (AERA), a COSSA governing member, for the 2026 Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research on November 5, 2026 at 6:00pm EST. The lecture will feature Daniel Solorzano, professor of social science and comparative education and Chicana/o and Central American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, and director of UCLA’s Center for Critical Race Studies in Education. The lecture will be presented before a small, invited in-person audience and livestreamed for the public. Registration information for the free livestream is coming soon. In the meantime, mark your calendar and plan to join for this timely…
ASA Releases Report on Remaking the National Center for Education Statistics
On August 25, The American Statistical Association (ASA) released A Vision and Strategy for Remaking the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a report from the ASA’s project on re-envisioning NCES. The ASA’s project on re-envisioning NCES brings together expertise from across the federal statistics and education policy communities to help chart a path forward for the agency following its dismantling in early 2025. The project builds on the ASA’s related work assessing the health of the federal statistical system, including its ongoing assessment of the health of federal statistics. Drawing on roundtable discussions with stakeholders across the education and statistical communities,…
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….
Did you submit comment to OMB on the Uniform Guidance Proposed Rule?
It is time to share your comments with your members of Congress! Instructions below. As may you know, the White House Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) proposed rule on Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance received tens of thousands of comments from the public, the majority in opposition to the rule. The draft rule included an implementation date of October 1, 2026; however, OMB has acknowledged privately that it is not likely to review all comments, as required by law, by then, likely resulting in a delay. In addition, the continuing resolution (CR) passed last week by the Senate to push Congress’ deadline for…
Meet COSSA’s Policy Intern: Caroline Seo
Caroline Seo started as COSSA’s policy intern in June. Before she signs off, she provided some reflections from her time at COSSA! How did you learn about COSSA and the opportunity to serve as a policy intern? My spring semester involved many hours of perusing William & Mary’s job post platform and asking professors if they had any connections with people working in the Northern Virginia area that they would be open to putting me in contact with. Both modes of searching were turning up unsuccessfully, probably because I have pretty specific interests. As a philosophy and sociology double major…
Senate Advances Continuing Resolution That Would Temporarily Block OMB Rule
Before departing for August recess, the Senate passed a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) that would extend current federal funding through December 11 to allow Congress additional time to complete the fiscal year (FY) 2027 appropriations process (the current deadline is September 30). The Senate’s stopgap measure will need to be passed by the House, which is currently on recess and not slated to return until August 31. While the House also passed a CR before departing Capitol Hill, it did not include a list of anomalies requested by President Trump after the bill was sent to the Senate (see previous…
House Science Committee Democrats Demand Answers about OSTP’s Use of NSF Funds
On August 6, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who serves as the Ranking Member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and Representative George Whitesides (D-CA) sent a letter to Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Michael Kratsios demanding answers about allegations that OSTP is directing the use of National Science Foundation (NSF) funding. The letter comes after the release of OSTP’s report, Science: A New Golden Age, and Director Kratsios appearing before the Committee on July 22 (see previous coverage). During the hearing, Kratsios repeatedly denied OSTP’s involvement in the direct oversight of NSF funding and research priorities, stating, “I am…
Trump Administration Rescinds Title VI Regulations for NSF and other Agencies
On August 4, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released a notice of a new rule in the Federal Register to rescind portions of its Title VI regulations, effective immediately. This comes after a series of similar notices across several federal agencies, including the Department of Education in July (see here) and the Department of Commerce in April (see here). These actions are in response to the Trump Administration’s Executive Order, Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy from April 2025 which sought to “repeal or amend the implementing regulations for Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for all agencies to the extent they contemplate…
AAU Releases ‘Leading University Reports’ on NSF and IES Slow Grant Making
The Association of American Universities (AAU) released two Leading University Reports in July on the slow-spend of appropriated funds within the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) housed within the Department of Education. The first article, NSF Is Making Fewer Grants, Threatening the Future of Scientific Discovery, released July 10, notes that NSF’s Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) has awarded only 38 grants this year compared to an average of 357 awards between fiscal years (FY) 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. The article continues that the uncertainty regarding awards is leading to “a reduction…
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….
House and Senate Committees Hold Hearings on the State of American Science
Both the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (CST) and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology (SST) held hearings recently regarding the American scientific research enterprise. The House SST hearing was held on July 22 featuring testimony from the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Michael Kratsios. Kratsios used his testimony to unveil a new White House report, Science: A New Golden Age. The report makes several recommendations consistent with executive orders and other policy changes proposed by the Trump Administration. Chairman Brian Babin (R-TX) and several other members across the aisle expressed concerns…
House Select Committee on China Holds Hearing on Federal Research Security
On July 15, the House Select Committee on China held a hearing titled, Protecting American Innovation: The Federal Research Security Enterprise. Witnesses included: Mr. Jeremy Ison, Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy; Dr. Patricia Valdez, Chief Extramural Research Integrity Officer, National Institutes of Health (NIH); and Dr. Rebecca Keiser, Acting Chief of Staff and Chief of Research Security Policy and Strategy, National Science Foundation (NSF). During his opening statements, Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) stated that China’s growing scientific research enterprise is a significant threat to the U.S. and argued that greater guardrails are necessary…
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…
NCHS Opens Applications for New Director
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the statistical arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is currently accepting applications for a new Director. Interested applicants should apply on USA Jobs by July 30. The announcement comes after the previous Director, Dr. Brian Moyer, announced his retirement last year. He was appointed Director of NCHS in March 2020 after serving as the Director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) within the Commerce Department (see previous coverage). Dr. Carolyn Greene has been serving as Acting Director since.