Trump Science Plans; McMahon; DARPA
BU IN DC
Julie Wickstrom of Enrollment and Student Administration joined the Higher Education Loan Coalition for meetings with Congressional offices and Department of Education officials regarding federal financial aid from May 18th to 21st.
Catherine Klapperich of the College of Engineering discussed federal investments in women’s health research with Congressional staff as part of Women’s Health Hill Day on May 21st.
Gerald Denis of the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine participated in the Association of American Cancer Institutes and American Association for Cancer Research annual Hill Day on Thursday, May 22nd.
KRATSIOS LAYS OUT ADMINISTRATION’S SCIENCE PRIORITIES
On Monday, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios said the Trump Administration wants to support “Gold Standard” science that is reproducible and transparent. During remarks on “Reinvigorating America’s Scientific Enterprise” delivered at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Kratsios said that diversity initiatives “degrade our scientific enterprise” and that the public has a “crisis of confidence” in science because “political biases are displacing the vital search for truth.” He added that “spending more money on the wrong things is far worse than spending less money on the right things.” In response to a question from NAS Director Marcia McNutt, Kratsios said he did not believe that scientists were considering leaving the United States to work abroad due to the current changes at federal science agencies.
CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS FOCUS ON NIH CUTS, COLLEGE PREP PROGRAMS, AND STUDENT VISAS
Trump Administration Cabinet secretaries faced sharp questioning from Congressional Democrats during several Appropriations Committee hearings on Capitol Hill this week.
- Secretary of Education Linda McMahon answered questions from House Appropriations Committee Democrats on Wednesday about the reorganization of the Department of Education and cuts to its staff. Committee Republicans urged more action to address the “influence of the Chinese Communist Party” and antisemitism on campuses. McMahon defended the Administration’s proposal to eliminate TRIO and GEAR UP college preparation programs, asserting the federal government should center career and technical training.
- Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy claimed public colleges have appropriately used reimbursements for facilities & administrative costs from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), while some wealthy private universities have abused them during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday. He also asserted that NIH “has gone off the rails over the past 20 years,” citing its support for certain types of Alzheimer’s disease research.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday how many student visas the Trump Administration had terminated. He responded, “I don’t know the latest count, but we probably have more to do.” Rubio also claimed a BU School of Public Health tracker that estimated the number of deaths attributable to the dismantling of USAID was “false or fake.”
BUZZ BITS…
- The U.S. House of Representatives passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), a bill that would expand the college endowment excise tax and reduce federal support for student loans and Pell Grants, by a vote of 215 to 214 on Thursday. The bill advances to the Senate, where lawmakers are expected to take a different approach to the tax package.
- Last Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued an internal memorandum signaling that the Department of Defense would cap reimbursement for facilities & administrative costs for university grantees at 15%. The Department has not yet issued public guidance on how the cap will be implemented; similar proposals at other federal agencies are currently on hold due to lawsuits.
- The Department of Defense has two new science leaders: Emil Michael is under secretary of defense for research and engineering and Steve Winchell is director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Michael previously served as chief business officer at Uber and Winchell came from the Department’s Strategic Capabilities Office.
- On Tuesday, Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey sent a letter to the White House expressing concerns with the Administration’s recent grant terminations and proposed reorganization of the National Science Foundation.
A NOTE TO OUR READERS
With Congress entering a District Work Period, Beltway BUzz will temporarily pause next week. Visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn for updates.