Harris; NSF; Humanities
BU IN DC
Kevin Outterson of CARB-X and the School of Law discussed incentives for antimicrobial therapeutics at a House Budget Committee roundtable event on July 25th.
DEMOCRATS COALESCE AROUND HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT
Democrats quickly coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris as their Presidential nominee after President Joseph R. Biden announced he would not seek reelection this past Sunday. Biden swiftly endorsed Harris, who has joined his call for student debt cancellation. Harris previously represented California in the U.S. Senate, where she introduced legislation to ensure basic needs — such as food, housing, and transportation — for college students. As California’s Attorney General, Harris successfully sued for-profit colleges that engaged in predatory practices. Last year, Vice President Harris toured college campuses to tout the Biden-Harris Administration’s fight for reproductive freedom, climate action, and voting rights.
SENATE PROPOSES INCREASES FOR NSF, NASA
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill on Thursday that would increase the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) budget by 5.4% over its current level. The bill also proposes an 8% increase for NASA’s earth science portfolio and a 1% increase for the agency’s heliophysics work. The Senate’s proposed funding levels are more generous than those approved by the House Appropriations Committee earlier this summer. The House has recommended a 2% increase for NSF and no increase for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. The chambers are expected to delay work on a final spending package until after the November election.
SENATE AND HOUSE DIFFER ON ARTS AND HUMANITIES BUDGETS
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill on Thursday that would increase the budgets of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities by 1%, in contrast to the approach recommended by the U.S. House of Representatives the day before. After rejecting two amendments to slash the budgets of the cultural agencies by 23%, the House approved a bill on Wednesday that would fund each agency at $203.9 million, a $3.11 million decrease and 2% drop from last year. The chambers are expected to reconcile the differences between their bills and finalize a spending package after the November election.