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News and updates

News and updates

Something We Haven’t Seen in A Long Time…

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As expected, the new 118th House of Representatives gathered earlier today to elect the new Speaker.  Before the new Members gathered to vote, all of Washington knew that Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who was the Minority Leader in the 117th Congress, was going to have a difficult time garnering enough support from the most hard-core rightwing of the House Republican caucus.  The first vote for Speaker demonstrated exactly how difficult a path McCarthy faces.

With 218 voted needed to become Speaker, McCarthy received even fewer votes that many of his supporters had predicted:  he received 203 votes, with 19 House Republicans opposing his Speakership.  In fact, the new Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York received more votes for Speaker, with a total of 212.  For the first time in 100 years, the vote for Speaker is now headed to a second ballot.

Read more about the situation here, here, here, and here.

OSTP Releases Guidance for U.S. Scientific Research Security That Preserves International Collaboration

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Today the National Science and Technology Council, Joint Committee on the Research Environment (JCORE), released guidance for Federal departments and agencies on implementing National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 (NSPM-33) on National Security Strategy for U.S. Government-Supported Research and Development.

The guidance addresses the below key elements of NSPM-33:

1) disclosure requirements and standardization;

2) digital persistent identifiers;

3) consequences for violation of disclosure requirements;

4) information sharing; and

5) research security programs.

As a next step, Dr. Eric Lander, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is directing agencies to develop model grant applications and instructions within 120 days that can be used by any funding agency.

In a press statement, Dr. Lander said “the implementation guidance reflects the principles I laid out in August: to protect America’s security and openness, to be clear so that well-intentioned researchers can easily and properly comply, and to ensure that policies do not fuel xenophobia or prejudice.”

You can read the full guidance here.

Amy Coney Barrett Confirmed

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Amy Coney Barrett has been confirmed as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States by a 52-48 partisan vote. Barrett is now the third justice appointed by President Trump to join the Court.

Updates here.

 

House Passes FY2020 Appropriations Measures

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The House passed two spending packages of nearly $1.4 trillion to fund federal agencies through FY20. The current federal funding continuing resolution expires at midnight Friday.

The Senate is expected to clear the pair of bills for President Donald Trump’s signature later this week.

The bipartisan agreement provides $49 billion in extra funding across the government and includes sweeping policy provisions, including to raise the legal age of tobacco purchases to 21, reauthorize PCORI, extend the Ex-IM bank for seven years, and repeal of several health taxes in Obamacare.

Interior Appropriations Bill to Move Next

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The next item on the agenda for the House Appropriations Committee is its FY2019 Interior spending bill, with the committee scheduled to take it up tomorrow, Tuesday, May 22.

Among the agencies that the bill funds is the U.S Geological Survey (USGS), which in turn supports a number of programs of interest to the University of Washington.  For example, the bill would instruct the USGS to support the Earthquake Early Warning system on the West Coast at a total of $21.1 million, with $16.1 million dedicated to the continued development of the system and $5 million for its capital infrastructure needs.

The  legislation would dedicate $19.29 million for the Cooperative Research Units (CRUs), another USGS program, which represents an increase of $1.9 million.  The increase would be dedicated to filling the number of vacancies across the country at participating universities.  The CRUs were proposed for elimination by the Administration.

The newly renamed Climate Adaptation Science Centers program would be level-funded at $25.3 million.  The Administration is seeking a cut of more than $12 million to the program.

A copy of the bill report is available here.