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News and updates

August Recess Updates

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August recess has officially begun! The Senate left town on Saturday and will return September 14. The House returns August 31.

Short-term funding bill passed:

Early on Saturday, the Senate passed HR 6500, in a 90-6 vote. The continuing resolution (CR) extends current funding levels through December 11, averting a government shutdown in September before the midterm elections. The Senate version is an expanded version of the recent House CR, meaning House members will need to vote again on the final measure once they return. President Trump has already indicated he would sign the CR in its current form.

UG revisions temporarily blocked: 

On a positive note, the Senate bill blocks OMB from implementing its proposed changes to Uniform Guidance through December 11. The House version did not include blocking language on uniform guidance.

NIL bill punted to September:

Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) were hopeful that their co-sponsored bill, The Protect College Sports Act (S. 4668), would receive a vote before recess, but last-minute debate bumped it until September. The bill would establish rules for athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL), and address revenue sharing, athlete eligibility, and transfers, among other details. It has sparked extensive debate among lawmakers, universities, and athletic conferences.

Cantwell suggested that Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) had “set a date certain in September to bring it up.”

New attorney general:

Todd Blanche was narrowly confirmed by the Senate early Saturday morning as the new U.S. Attorney General. All Democrats, as well as Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, voted against him, for a final 50-49 vote.

Farewell pennies? 

And finally, it may officially be the end of the road for the one cent coin. On Friday, the Senate passed by unanimous consent S. 1525, which would direct the Treasury secretary to end production of pennies. The Senate bill is similar to HR 3074, which the House passed on July 14. Both bills would codify President Trump’s February 2025 directive to the Treasury department to end penny manufacturing.

Senate Confirms Dr. Erica Schwartz as CDC Director

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On Wednesday afternoon, the Senate voted to confirm Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency’s first full-time leader in nearly a year. The 51-44 vote fell along party lines, with Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) as the only Democrat to vote in her favor. Dr. Schwartz was a deputy surgeon general in Trump’s first administration and is Trump’s third nominee for CDC director in two years. She takes the lead at an agency that has faced a wave of challenges since Health Secretary Kennedy took office, including losing about a third of its staff to layoffs and resignations, the firing of former director Susan Monarez after clashes over vaccine policy, and dealing with several high-profile outbreaks.

Dr. Schwartz has expressed strong support for Kennedy’s “Make Health Healthy Again” agenda. She has publicly supported vaccines but dodged specific questions during her confirmation hearing about potential political interference from Kennedy.

How Will the Primary Results Affect Washington’s Congressional Delegation?

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Polls closed last night for Washington state’s August 4 primary elections. At the federal level, incumbents are running for reelection in nine of Washington’s ten congressional districts. Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse is retiring after six terms, leaving an open seat in District 4. In Washington state, the top two candidates with the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of party. While not all the votes have been counted, as of this morning the Associated Press has called the results for eight districts. Additional vote analysis is available here from the Associated Press.

District 1:

Rep. Suzan DelBene (D) won 54.5% of the vote and will advance to face Mary Silva (R) in the general election.

District 2:

Rep. Rick Larsen (D) won 44.9% of the vote and will face Edwin Fuller (R) in November.

District 3:

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D) won 38.9% of the vote and will face State Senate Minority Leader John Braun (R), who won 38.7% of the vote.

District 3 has drawn national attention for being one of the most competitive House races to watch in a true tossup district. Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez is running for reelection for the seat that she first narrowly flipped in 2022. State Sen. John Braun has President Trump’s endorsement and will be competing against Gluesenkamp Perez in a district that Trump won in 2024.

District 4:

Amanda McKinney (R) won 34.9% of the vote and will face John Duresky (D) in November.

District 5:

Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R) won 48% of the vote. A second candidate has not yet been called.

District 6:

Rep. Emily Randall (D) won 60.3% of the vote and will face Teresa Fox (R) in November.

District 7:

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D) won 83.3% of the vote and will face Nirav Sheth (R) in November.

District 8:

Rep. Kim Schrier (D) won 54.1% of the vote. A second candidate has not yet been called.

District 9:

Rep. Adam Smith (D) won 51% of the vote and will face Doug Basler (R) in November.

District 10:

Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D) won 49.3% of the vote and will face Chris Chung (R) in November.

Senate Strikes Bipartisan Stopgap Funding Deal, Delays OMB’s Proposed Rule

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On Sunday, Senate appropriators released text of their own version of a stopgap spending deal, a continuing resolution (CR) which would extend current funding levels through December 11, a week later than what House Republicans proposed in their recent stopgap bill which passed last month. Senate leaders are hoping to pass this measure before they leave town on Friday for August recess, as both chambers hope to avert a potential government shutdown until after the midterm elections.

The Senate CR bill is similar to the Republican-led House version, which passed along largely party lines. However, the Senate version contains several significant elements that curb the administration’s authority.

Notably, this bill would block OMB’s proposed “uniform guidance” federal rule, which would require grants to be approved by senior political appointees, among other changes. The rule was set to go into effect on October 1, this legislation would freeze implementation of the rule until December 11. Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collines (R-ME), said in a statement she has pushed “significant changes to the proposed rule,” while reiterating concerns about “its potential to politicize grants and harm small, rural communities, families, and biomedical research.”

Another restriction within the bill would block the administration from transferring further funding to Border Patrol.

OSTP Releases “Science: A New Golden Age” Report

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Yesterday, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Michael Kratsios published Science: A New Golden Age, a report to President Trump which lays out a vision and policy framework for American research and development. Accompanying the report is a White House Fiscal Year 2028 R&D Priorities Memorandum from OMB director Russ Vought and Director Kratsios, providing specific directives to federal departments and agencies for implementing the recommendations laid out in this report. Federal R&D agencies are required to submit an action plan within 90 days outlining their implementation plans and incorporate the guidance into their FY2028 submissions to OMB.

A summary of the report from OSTP is below:

“The report organizes its recommendations to government, industry, academia, and philanthropy around four key pillars:

  1. Revitalize America’s Science and Technology Enterprise
    The R&D enterprise should refocus support on individual scientists rather than legacy institutions, diversify funding mechanisms beyond slow consensus peer review, create agile new research organizations such as X-Labs and expanded ARPA-like entities, and establish metascience units to institutionalize continuous improvement.
  2. Secure U.S. Dominance in Critical and Emerging Technologies
    Federal R&D should prioritize national mission-driven scientific initiatives that unite government, industry, academia, and philanthropy around ambitious goals. These include the Genesis Mission to double the productivity of American research through AI; the Quantum Computer for Application Development and Discovery Science (QC-ADDS); commercial fusion power demonstration by the mid-2030s; crewed lunar return and lunar base development; and next-generation semiconductor technologies.
  3. Launch a New Golden Age Powered by AI for Science
    The Federal government should fully fund and scale the Genesis Mission as the flagship national AI-for-science initiative to dramatically accelerate discovery; develop domain-specific scientific foundation models and high-value datasets, invest in AI-enabled verification infrastructure and autonomous laboratories; and begin transitioning toward AI-native scientific institutions better suited to an era of machine-augmented research.
  4. Ensure That Science and Technology Better the Lives of All Americans
    Federal agencies should integrate hands-on technical training and apprenticeships into STEM education, open scientific careers to skilled craftspeople and practitioners, build dense regional innovation clusters that link research with advanced manufacturing, and ensure that the economic returns of discovery reach every region and community in the country.”