Over the past few months, science regulation has been quietly dismantled and rebuilt in accordance with the current political atmosphere and administration’s desired trajectory.
On May 29, Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Director Russell Vought came out to the public with the OMB’s proposed Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance rule. The rule states that “it is essential for the federal government to provide more oversight over the design and implementation of federal programs to prevent wasteful spending and misuse or mismanagement of federal funds.”
This was followed in June by the National Science Foundation updating its Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide to align with the new, yet-to-be-implemented rule.
With this information, it is also important to consider that the entire National Science Foundation advisory board was fired by the Trump administration in April.
The executive summary of the new proposed rule states that “Federal awards were often used during those years to promote a ‘woke’ policy agenda that did not reflect the values of the vast majority of the American public.”
Furthermore, the bill targeted international aid organizations, assistance programs in Minnesota, and DEI organizations and chapters. The main point of this bill is tightened regulation of scientific research and institutions.
The OMB proposal was accepting public comment until July 13 which has now been pushed to Aug. 24. Any American citizen can post a public comment at this link, at the Stand Up for Science website.
You can further email or call your member of Congress through Stand Up for Science, which will create an email template or script, and list your members of Congress. The only thing you have to do to take action is click submit!
Many scientists and professionals worry that this new rule gives too much authority to politicians over deciding what type of science deserves funding.
In a statement, the American Association for Cancer Research wrote,
“For decades, the framework that supports America’s scientific research enterprise through agencies such as NIH and the National Cancer Institute has fueled transformative discoveries in cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and survivorship. This established system has reduced the U.S. cancer death rate by 35% since 1991, resulting in more than 4.8 million U.S. lives saved.”
Notably, they pointed out that, “this progress has been made possible because of research funding decisions guided by the rigorous review of grant applications by scientific experts and their assessment of these grants to improve public health—NOT guided by political and ideological considerations.”
