Trump's FY18 Budget Would Severely Cut Scientific Programs

On Tuesday, May 23, the Trump administration released its full budget proposal for FY18, which calls for draconian cuts to domestic spending, including to scientific programs. Although Congress is unlikely to include many of these cuts in its final FY18 budget, Trump's budget proposal indicates how little value the administration places on science and the programs that protect our health, environment, and wellbeing. Read more about the proposed cuts to scientific programs here.

Trump Proposes Unprecedented Cut to NSF

Trump's FY18 budget proposal would cut $776 million (11%) from the National Science Foundation (NSF), marking the first time that a sitting president has proposed cutting the budget of the NSF in the 67 years it has been in existence. The number of Graduate Research Fellowships would be cut in half, to just 1,000 per year. The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which provides support for states that receive less NSF funding, would be cut from $160 million to $100 million. The remainder of the cuts would come from individual directorates (from 7.1% for biology to 10.6% for geosciences). Federal support for basic science drives US innovation and competitiveness, and such shortsighted cuts to the NSF now could have unforeseen consequences for generations.

Trump Proposes Cuts to NIH, Reduction in Overhead Payments

Trump's FY18 budget proposal would cut $7.7 billion (22%) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including eliminating the $72-million Fogarty International Center. Due to widespread support for medical research, though, few of these cuts, if any, are likely to make it through Congress.

The Trump administration has previously proposed that the NIH could absorb these cuts while still funding the same amount of research by reducing overhead payments on grants. Overhead, or "indirect costs", are negotiated between the government and each university or research institution, and they help pay for the infrastructure and facilities at that support scientific research. Trump's FY18 budget proposes reducing overhead payments from 28% of NIH spending to just 10%. Such cuts would lessen the ability of our nation's universities to support groundbreaking research.

On Wednesday, May 24, the House science committee held a joint hearing on overhead costs, where Republican members voiced their support for reducing overhead payments in general--including at the NSF, over which the science committee has jurisdiction (it does not have jurisdiction over the NIH, which has been the focus of most of the conversations about overhead rates). The hearing is causing worry that severe overhead reductions might be one part of the Trump budget that gains traction in Congress.

Trump Budget Would Gut Science at EPA

Trump's FY18 budget proposal would cut $2.6 billion (31%) from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The budget for Science and Technology would be slated for an almost 40% cut, which would eliminate the equivalent of over 700 full-time employees per year. Earlier, an EPA official warned that the cuts to the Office of Research and Development, which is tasked with ensuring that the agency has the "best available science" to support regulations, would cause the office to "implode." The proposed budget would also eliminate the $50 million Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant program for environmental science, which goes mainly to university researchers, and funding for the Global Change Research Program, which supports climate change research and the National Climate Assessment.

Proposed NOAA Budget Cuts Would Hit the National Weather Service

Trump's FY18 budget proposal would cut $1.0 billion (18%) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This includes deep cuts to the National Weather Service, which could cause US-based weather models to lag far behind the international state of the art. The cuts for weather forecasting could hurt farmers and hamper the accuracy of hurricane, tornados, and other extreme weather forecasts. The budget proposal would also eliminate NOAA grant and education programs.

DOE Cuts Would Target Both Basic and Applied Research

Trump's FY18 budget proposal would cut $3.1 billion (18%) from non-nuclear security programs at the Department of Energy (DOE). The budget would eliminate the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), a successful public-private investment program that has garnered $1.8 billion in follow-up private sector investment across a range of energy fields. Trump's budget also targets the DOE's Office of Science, which supports basic research in energy and the physical sciences and funds the operation of 10 national laboratories, which employ thousands of Americans.

A proposed 69% cut to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy would hurt the US's ability to stay at the forefront of the burgeoning global clean energy market. These cuts would also necessitate closing the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which has had remarkable success in advancing crucial technologies like rooftop solar panels, efficient LEDs, and higher-capacity batteries.

Supreme Court Decision Limits Patent "Venue Shopping"

On Monday, May 22, the Supreme Court issued an 8-0 decision in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group, ruling that patent infringement cases must be filed either where the defendant is incorporated or where the infringement occurred and the defendant had a regular and established place of business. This decision, which overturned a lower court's ruling allowing suit to be filed virtually anywhere in the US, is seen as a victory for the tech industry in their fight against patent trolls and frivolous patent lawsuits. See more analysis here.

Mixed Reactions to Proposed Privacy Bill

On May 18, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), introduced the Balancing the Rights of Web Surfers Equally and Responsibly (BROWSER) Act, which would create new online privacy rules that would apply to both internet service providers (ISPs) and "edge providers" (i.e. web platforms like Google and Facebook) and would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). (Republicans voted to eliminate the existing consumer privacy protections that applied to ISPs earlier this year.). Last week, Oracle and AT&T expressed their support for the measure, while the Internet Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation have expressed their opposition.

Science and Transparency at EPA

The battle over science at EPA continues. On Monday, May 22, Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, sent a letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, claiming that an upcoming stakeholder meeting related to an annual report on EPA's actions to enforce its scientific integrity policy doesn't have enough representation from private industry. Smith wants the meeting to include more industry representatives or be open to the public. Michael Halpern of the Union of Concerned Scientists has also called for greater transparency, writing "I'd like to know who from the chemical industry met or communicated with the EPA in advance of Administrator Pruitt's decision to reject scientific advice and keep a dangerous pesticide on the market that has been shown to hurt endangered species and harm human brain development.... I'd like many more EPA meetings to be made open to the public." (In March, the agency's Scientific Integrity Official Francesca Grifo was asked to look into a complaint that Pruitt had violated the policy by saying that carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to climate change.)

Some agency officials are also expressing concern that EPA experts are being shut out of communications by the agency's political leadership. A recent press release on regulation of toxic wastewater discharge from power plants emphasized the higher initial costs of compliance of $1.2 billion in the first five years without explaining that costs dropped in subsequent years. Office of Water officials were apparently kept out of the loop and objected to the lack of context in the press release.

Since members of the EPA's Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) were dismissed after not having their contracts renewed as expected, the agency has re-opened the application process. On Tuesday, May 23, the House Subcommittee on the Environment held a hearing on "Expanding the Role of States in EPA Rulemaking", where BOSC chair Deborah Swackhamer said that that she was "surprised" by the dismissals, adding "My personal fear is that the actions taken by the federal government are, in fact, diminishing the role of science." The BOSC provides independent scientific and technical peer review, advice, consultation, and recommendations about EPA's Office of Research and Development, and areas of expertise are sought from a broad range of biophysical, social and behavioral sciences, engineering, public health, and environmental policy. Applications are due June 30.

FDA Lifts Hiring Freeze

On Thursday, May 25, Scott Gottlieb, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), told a House appropriations subcommittee that the FDA is no longer under a federal hiring freeze. However, sources say that all of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes FDA, remains effectively under a hiring freeze, at least through June 30.

Congress on Recess

The House and Senate are on recess this week, returning on June 5/6.

Action Items

• The FCC needs to hear from you in order to save net neutrality regulations. Learn more here, and submit comments directly here.
• The Trump administration is letting the National Forensic Science Commission expire. You can submit comments through June 9. Learn more here, and submit comments directly here.
• The Department of the Interior is conducting a review of certain National Monuments designated or expanded since 1996. Learn more here, and submit comments directly here.
• Join a wide coalition of environmental and climate organizations for an emergency rally in support of the Paris Agreement at the White House this Thursday, June 1, at 5 pm EDT. See details here.