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| FYI: Science Policy News from AIP |
| THIS WEEK |
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| What’s Ahead |
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| The Capitol Christmas Tree (Architect of the Capitol) |
Budget Talks at Impasse as Lawmakers Depart for Holiday Break
The stopgap measure funding the federal government is set to expire early next year, yet congressional leaders still have not reached agreement on topline spending limits for fiscal year 2024, a key prerequisite to finalizing agency-level budget allocations. House Republicans are pushing to revise the budget agreement that former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) negotiated with the White House in the spring. Although that agreement resulted in Congress enacting a budget cap for non-defense spending that is below the current level, a verbal “side deal” not included in the legislative text permits tens of billions of dollars in additional spending on non-defense programs, effectively negating the cut. New House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is arguing that Congress should adhere to the cap set in the legislation. By contrast, the Senate’s spending proposals exceed both the cap and the side deal by billions of dollars by designating the extra money as an emergency measure not subject to the cap. The current impasse has raised fears that Congress will trigger a government shutdown or resort to holding agencies at their current funding levels for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Meanwhile, congressional leaders are also struggling to negotiate a supplemental spending package focused on national security priorities, mainly related to the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars. Senate Democrats have advanced a supplemental package totaling around $110 billion while Republicans are insisting that support for Ukraine be tied to changes to U.S. border security policy. Although the package is mostly focused on expanding weapons procurement and humanitarian assistance, a portion addresses other goals such as shoring up supplies of radioisotopes that previously were acquired from Russia. The Democrats’ proposal includes $98 million for the Department of Energy to acquire equipment for producing isotopes, short of the $278 million requested for that purpose by the Biden administration as part of a separate proposal for a supplemental spending package focused on domestic priorities.
As lawmakers weigh potential supplemental spending packages, a set of science advocacy groups is proposing that Congress include $13 billion for R&D-focused activities. The National Science Foundation would receive $5 billion of the total to support efforts such as its nascent Regional Innovation Engines, the prospective National AI Research Resource, and core research and infrastructure. The Department of Energy Office of Science would receive $2 billion in part to launch a major artificial intelligence R&D initiative, microelectronics research centers, additional Energy Earthshot Research Centers, and accelerated facility upgrades. Of the remaining funds, $2.5 billion would go to the Commerce Department’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs, $2.5 billion would go to NASA, and $1.6 billion would go to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The appetite in Congress for such spending is unclear, though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has expressed interest in advancing a bipartisan follow-on to the CHIPS and Science Act that would include funding for strategic technology areas beyond semiconductors.
Editor’s Note: FYI on Recess
The next edition of FYI’s weekly newsletter will be published in the first week of January.
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| In Case You Missed It |
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| Members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (House CCP Committee) |
CCP Committee Proposes Research Security and Tech Development Initiatives
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party adopted a bipartisan report last week that proposes the U.S. “reset” its economic relationship with China in part through new research security measures and controls on technology exports. The recommended actions include:
- Prohibiting U.S. entities from conducting research with Chinese entities that are “involved with military and defense R&D,” such as those on the list of China’s Defense Science and Technology Key Labs developed by the U.S. Air Force
- Requiring research institutions to “obtain an export control license if they intend to use any export-controlled item that has a clear and distinct national security nexus, during the course of research collaboration on critical and emerging technologies with any foreign adversary entity”
- Empowering the president to ban entities owned or controlled by foreign adversaries from selling certain technology products in the U.S. market, including quantum computing, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and surveillance products
- Adding to the disclosure requirements of National Security Presidential Memorandum 33 by requiring federal research funding applicants to disclose past “relations and interest” with foreign government or entities in foreign adversary countries that occurred within the past five years
- Establishing a National Technology Competitiveness Analysis Center at the Department of Energy that would inform decisions on export controls
- Expanding visa screening procedures, including by requiring the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to participate in vetting “high-risk researchers”
The committee also calls for measures to expand U.S. capacity for technological development, such as:
- Establishing a work authorization program for foreign nationals from allied countries who have expertise in key technologies and who would work on projects funded by national security agencies
- Funding the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and DOE Office of Science in a manner that prioritizes technologies relevant to national security and supply chain security
- Creating a mechanism for the Department of Defense to “fund early-stage, capital-intensive emerging technologies with national security applications, with requirements for production in the U.S. or in closely allied nations”
- Establishing a “critical technology industry fund … for building or expanding R&D and advanced production facilities” in the U.S.
- Strengthening the R&D tax credit
- Ensuring the U.S. is “the first country to develop a quantum computer capable of breaking modern-day encryption tools”
The committee does not have the authority to advance legislation of its own, so all of its recommendations will have to be pursued through other committees.
Florida Faculty Seek Clarity on Hiring Students From ‘Countries of Concern’
Over 300 faculty members at the University of Florida have signed a petition to the university’s leadership urgently seeking clarification on restrictions imposed by a law that the Florida legislature passed unanimously in May. Language in the law generally prohibits state colleges and universities from entering any “agreement” or “partnership” with “any foreign principal” from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria, all designated as “countries of concern.” University researchers recently received guidance that, due to the law, they should hold back on hiring graduate student assistants from these countries. The petition observes that more than 1,000 graduate students from those countries enroll in the university every year and asserts that failing to offer paid assistantships will immediately hinder the university in competing for talented students. It also expresses the broader hope that state-level “foreign-influence policy” will not affect the hiring of international students, postdocs, and visiting researchers, regardless of their country of origin. The law was part of a trio Florida enacted aimed at confronting the Chinese Communist Party. Florida has taken a leading role among Republican-led states in advancing the party’s political aims, which also include dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Audit of Research Security Investigations Requested by House Democrats
Last week, three House Democrats asked the Government Accountability Office to review agencies’ procedures for investigating allegations of improper foreign influence over federally funded scientists. Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Judy Chu (D-CA), Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Science Committee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) request GAO determine what due process is available to scientists under investigation and if agencies have procedures and training in place to ensure investigations are free of bias. They also request GAO collect agency data on the outcomes of investigations over the past five years and demographic information on those investigated. They note that more than 100 scientists resigned or were fired as a result of investigations by the National Institutes of Health into nondisclosure of foreign ties and that a majority of those investigated identified as Asian. Chu and Raskin have previously raised concerns about how such investigations are conducted.
DOE Office of Science Asks for Facilities Wish Lists
Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, has asked the office’s six federal advisory committees to weigh in on which facilities construction and upgrade projects it should prioritize over the next 10 years. In a letter dated Dec. 1, Berhe directed each committee to report back by May 2024 on what facility projects in their disciplines are necessary to keep the office “at the forefront of scientific discovery.” For each proposed facility or upgrade, Berhe asked the committees to grade them on their “potential to contribute to world-leading science in the next decade” as well as their “readiness for construction.” A list of potential projects to consider has been provided to each committee, spanning Basic Energy Sciences, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Biological and Environmental Research, and Advanced Scientific Computing Research. In some cases the lists include the estimated project timelines and total costs. The committees are permitted to add additional projects for consideration if they would cost more than $100 million.
DOE Launches Critical and Emerging Technology Office
The Department of Energy announced last week it has opened an Office of Critical and Emerging Technology, as required by President Joe Biden’s recent executive order on AI. The office will coordinate research in areas such as AI, biotechnology, quantum computing, and semiconductors across DOE’s national labs, develop partnerships with academia and industry, and inform policy making. Helena Fu will lead the office while simultaneously serving as DOE’s chief artificial intelligence officer, a position also mandated and defined by Biden’s AI order. Fu testified the following day at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing focusing on AI. She emphasized that, while the office she leads is new, DOE has been working on AI for decades. She said that the national labs have already begun finding ways to use AI to improve wildfire mapping and electricity transmission but are also engaging in red teaming to identify the risks that new AI tools might present. Fu argued throughout the hearing that U.S. strength in AI hinges on its domestic capabilities but that, while some foreign actors are certainly looking to use AI for ill, the country cannot completely sever its research from the rest of the world. “Our ability as an S&T superpower really comes from having the best-in-class facilities and the talent, but also our ability to work with others around the world so that we avoid strategic surprise,” she said.
NSF Restricts Use of AI in Grant Proposal Reviews
The National Science Foundation released a notice last week barring grant application reviewers from uploading proposals, review information, or related records to non-approved generative AI tools. NSF so far has not approved any such tools, but an agency spokesperson told FYI it is exploring how generative AI “might be responsibly applied towards its business processes.” The new policy stems from concern that using generative AI tools in reviews could expose sensitive or confidential information that should be protected behind NSF’s firewalls. Reviewers are still permitted to share publicly available information with publicly available generative AI. NSF also maintains a number of AI systems that reviewers are allowed to use for specific cases. The notice also “encourages” proposers to mark AI-generated elements of their proposals and emphasizes that authors are responsible for any errors or plagiarism in their proposals, regardless of whether they were caused by generative AI.
NSF Accelerating Research Translation Program Makes First Grants
The National Science Foundation announced last week the first set of grants from its new Accelerating Research Translation program, totaling $100 million for 18 universities. The program is part of the Technology, Innovation and Partnerships Directorate and aims to help universities build capacity for translating academic research into “tangible solutions that benefit the public.” Each grantee will receive up to $6 million over four years and is assigned a “mentor” university. In announcing the grantees, NSF noted that half are in EPSCoR jurisdictions — states and territories that have historically received a small fraction of NSF funds.
Senate Confirms Navy Research and Acquisition Chief
By a voice vote last week, the Senate confirmed Nickolas Guertin as assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition, a little over a year from when President Joe Biden first nominated him for the role, Guertin replaces Jay Stefany, who has filled the role on a temporary basis since the departure of James Guerts in January 2021. Guertin previously served as the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester as director of the Operational Test and Evaluation arm of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a role he began in December 2021.
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| Upcoming Events |
All events are Eastern Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement. Events beyond this week are listed on our website.
Monday, December 18
Tuesday, December 19
Wednesday, December 20
White House: National Space Council meeting
Thursday, December 21
No events.
Friday, December 22
No events.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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Deadlines indicated in parentheses.
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