Senate Passes FY 2019 Budget Resolution that Includes Future Cuts to NDD Programs, House to Consider Bill this Week
The Senate passed a budget resolution for FY 2019 last week that would keep federal funding for nondefense discretionary (NDD) programs flat for FY 2019, but would reduce funding over the next decade by $600 billion. The purpose of passing a budget resolution now, rather than in the spring, and in reducing funding in out years for NDD programs is to pave the way to pass tax reform measures proposed by President Trump. The House is expected to consider the bill this week.
Eric Hargan Named Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services
One week after the Senate confirmed Eric D. Hargan to serve as deputy secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the White House announced that Hargan will serve as acting secretary for the Department. Hargan previously served in various roles at HHS during George W. Bush’s presidency, including deputy general counsel, principal associate deputy secretary, and acting deputy secretary. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) are part of HHS.
Senator Paul Introduces Legislation that Would Change Peer Review
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced a bill that would add members of the public and scientists from unrelated disciplines to the research being reviewed to federal peer review panels. Paul believes that these additions are necessary to ensure that federally funded research is in the taxpayers’ interest; he sees a conflict in interest in having only scientists from the same field that receive funding from the sponsoring agency review proposals. The bill would also discontinue allowing applicants to suggest a review panel for their proposal or to ask that proposals not be reviewed by certain people. It would make changes to the Office of the Inspector General at the National Science Foundation as well. More information on the bill is available in this Science magazine article.
NIH is Seeking Input on its trans-NIH Strategic Plan for Women’s Health Research
NIH is soliciting input from the community in preparation for updating its strategic plan for women’s health research. This request for information (RFI) seeks feedback on 3 cross-cutting themes and goals under consideration: 1: Expand the Exploration of Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV) in NIH Research; 2: A Multi-Dimensional Approach to the Science of Women's Health; and 3: Quality of Life and Disease Burden over the Life Course. Responses are due November 10. More information is available here.
NSF Issues Request for Information on Mid-scale Research Infrastructure
In an effort to assess the needs for mid-scale research infrastructure, the National Science Foundation is soliciting input from the US-based NSF science and engineering community. The information gathered will be used to "evaluate the existing and future needs, across all disciplines supported by the Foundation, for mid-scale projects" and "develop a strategy to address the needs," as required by the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act. Mid-scale research projects are defined as those that would require an NSF contribution of between $20 million and $100 million towards construction and/or acquisition. The Foundation would especially like to hear from researchers and institutions in a position to oversee or carryout the proposed project. The deadline is December 8, 2017. More information is available here.
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