Washington Week in Science

 Van Scoyoc 

Washington Week in Science

April 4, 2025

Health ‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs On health economist Jay Bhattacharya’s first day as the head of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the chiefs of 4 of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the agency — including the country’s top infectious-diseases official — were removed from their posts. The directors of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) were informed late on 31 March they were being placed on administrative leave. Together, these leaders oversaw $9 billion in funding. Read more:  Nature   Researchers, ACLU sue over Trump's 'ideological purge' of NIH grants Scientific researchers on Wednesday sued to secure reinstatement of National Institutes of Health grants that funded research on topics like LGBTQ health, COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy canceled by President Donald Trump's administration as part of an "ideological purge." The ACLU filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court on behalf of four researchers, the American Public Health Association, the Ibis Reproductive Health and the United Auto Workers union challenging the abrupt decision to revoke at least $1.1 billion in grant funding for hundreds of studies. Read more:  Reuters   RFK Jr. cuts CDC labs investigating outbreaks of STDs and hepatitis Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has eliminated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's laboratories for sexually transmitted diseases and hepatitis, multiple officials tell CBS News, disrupting ongoing work to respond to outbreaks. Lab staff were informed this week of the cuts as part of the 10,000 layoffs done around the Department of Health and Human Services. Within the agency, officials are now warning of delays and disruptions to testing as a result. Read more:  CBS News   RFK Jr. says 20% of health agency layoffs could be mistakes Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested Thursday that around 20% of the job cuts by the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency will be wrong and need to be corrected. Kennedy said that the elimination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's entire Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch was among the mistakes. It is unclear which other programs Kennedy may be planning to restore. The department did not immediately provide a response for a request for comment. Read more:  CBS News   Top Trump FDA official Brenner hits pause on Novavax Covid-19 vaccine decision A top FDA official directly intervened in an agency review of Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine, pausing the approval process to ask for more data on the shot, according to four people familiar with the decision granted anonymity to discuss the approval status. Dr. Sara Brenner, FDA’s Principal Deputy Commissioner, took the highly unusual step, cutting against longstanding precedent at the agency designed to shield scientific assessments from political interference. Typically, political FDA appointees follow the advice of career staff tasked with reviewing reams of data on drugs and vaccines seeking approval. Read more:  Politico   Defense   Trump taps hypersonics expert to oversee Pentagon’s S&T portfolio President Donald Trump has picked Joseph Jewell to be the next assistant secretary of defense for science and technology. Jewell’s nomination was sent to Capitol Hill Monday and will be considered by the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to a notice posted on Congress.gov. An experienced aerospace engineer, Jewell has spent decades in both academia and government working on hypersonics research and development. He most recently served as an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Purdue University, where he was the director of the school’s Mach 6 quiet wind tunnel that’s able to test hypersonic capabilities. Read more:  DefenseScoop   Pentagon to offer new round of voluntary resignations, retirements The Defense Department is going to offer a new round of voluntary resignations and retirements to the civilian workforce, but details are slim. In a brief memo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon would “immediately” offer voluntary early retirements and begin another deferred resignation plan. He warned that “exemptions should be rare,” but provided no specifics on what the offers will look like or say whether they would go out to the entire civilian workforce of more than 900,000. Read more:  Defense News   US approves sale of F-16s to the Philippines in $5.5bn weapons package The U.S. State Department has approved a prospective sale of 20 F-16 aircraft to the Philippines, part of a larger package that includes hundreds of medium-range, air-to-air missiles, bombs, anti-aircraft guns and ammunition, worth $5.58 billion. The official notice of the sale follows U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s trip to the Philippines last week, and it comes ahead of the annual Balikatan exercises, a joint military drill between the long-time treaty allies. Read more:  Defense News   How NORAD could be hurt by US-Canada tensions If President Trump’s tariffs and threats shatter the U.S.-Canadian defense partnership, the Pentagon would lose some ability to track incoming enemy threats. Without Canada’s radar sites, “the northern approaches would be severely under-resourced, and we would lose a significant amount of domain awareness and response in the northern approaches, which is the fastest and the easiest approach for adversaries to take to North America,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot, head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command. Read more:  Defense One   DoD floats 2035 as goal for zero trust in weapons systems The Department of Defense is looking to meet a soft deadline of achieving zero-trust architecture for weapons systems by 2035, the director of the Zero Trust Office within the Pentagon’s Chief Information Office said on April 2. This means building zero-trust architectures into systems like aircraft, tanks and ships. It will be no easy feat, Randy Resnick said, but he hopes it can be achieved within the next decade. Read more:  Breaking Defense   In first, Hegseth to skip multinational meeting on Ukraine support Pete Hegseth will not attend a gathering of 50 countries to coordinate military support for Ukraine, multiple European officials and a U.S. official said — the first time the coalition will gather without America’s secretary of defense participating. The group will meet April 11 in Brussels and will be chaired by Germany and Britain. Hegseth attended the last meeting in February, though he became the first U.S. defense secretary in the coalition’s 26 meetings not to lead it. Read more:  Military Times   Energy   DOE identifies 16 federal sites across the country for data center and AI infrastructure development The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Thursday announced plans to help ensure America leads the world in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and lower energy costs by co-locating data centers and new energy infrastructure on DOE lands. DOE has released a Request for Information (RFI) to inform possible use of DOE land for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure development to support growing demand for data centers. DOE has identified 16 potential sites uniquely positioned for rapid data center construction, including in-place energy infrastructure with the ability to fast-track permitting for new energy generation such as nuclear. Read more:  DOE   Energy Department takes action to remove barriers for requests to LNG exports On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the removal of additional regulatory barriers standing in the way of unleashing U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. DOE has rescinded a Biden-era policy statement that required authorized LNG exporters to meet stringent criteria before the agency would consider a request to extend a commencement date for an approved project. Read more:  DOE   DOE relaunches bid for staffers to resign ahead of deeper cuts The Energy Department on Monday reinstated a program that would give staffers a chance to voluntarily leave before the administration’s mandatory cuts take place, according to a memo obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News. In a memo to staff, Energy Secretary Chris Wright noted that President Donald Trump on Feb. 11 signed an executive order that requires agency heads to promptly prepare to initiate large-scale reductions in force. “This is a difficult but necessary effort to make government more efficient and accountable. In conducting any such exercise, it is important to consider how optimization initiatives could impact DOE personnel,” said Wright. Read more:  E&E News   DOE fast-tracks lab upgrades Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has announced new measures to ease permitting rules and regulations for construction projects at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) 17 National Laboratories. “These reforms will accelerate much-needed critical infrastructure improvement projects at DOE’s National Labs, enabling the Department to move faster on important projects while saving hundreds of millions of dollars for the American taxpayer,” DOE said. Read more:  Nuclear Engineering International   Space   Senate schedules confirmation hearing for Isaacman’s nomination to lead NASA The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator next week after a push by industry, and even some members of the committee, to take up the nomination. The hearing will also consider the nomination of Olivia Trusty to be a member of the Federal Communications Commission. Read more:  Space News   NASA proves its electric moon dust shield works on the lunar surface New shielding technology from NASA that protects against damaging lunar dust just passed a trial run on the moon's surface, marking an important milestone in the agency's lunar aspirations. The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) flew aboard Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost, the first privately funded lunar lander to make a fully successful touchdown on the moon. After Blue Ghost's historic landing on March 2, the EDS demonstrated the ability to remove lunar dust and dirt, known as regolith, from surfaces using electrodynamic forces. The successful test concluded on March 16. Read more:  Space.com   Science and Technology   Trump signs order to set up new entity to take over Biden’s Chips Act program President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday setting up a new entity to take over the Chips Act program and speed up corporate investments in the US. The United States Investment Accelerator within the Commerce Department will oversee implementing the Chips and Science Act, a 2022 law that made $52.7 billion in subsidies available for semiconductor chips manufacturing and production. Read more:  The Guardian   Trump and DOGE defund program that boosted American manufacturing for decades At the height of the US trade war with Japan in the 1980s, Congress established a nationwide network of organizations to advise small American manufacturers on how to survive and grow in what was then a particularly difficult environment. Decades later, there is now at least one Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) center in all 50 states, and they continue to provide taxpayer-subsidized consulting to thousands of businesses, including makers of ovens, printers, tortillas, and dog food. But on Tuesday, shortly before the president announced sweeping tariffs on global imports, Trump administration officials informed members of Congress that it was withholding funding for some MEP centers because their work no longer aligns with government priorities. Read more:  WIRED   Fundamental Science and Engineering   NSF has awarded almost 50% fewer grants since Trump took office The number of new grants handed out by the National Science Foundation (NSF) since President Donald Trump took office has fallen by nearly 50% compared with the same 2-month period 1 year ago. The drop-off—which has reduced the funds awarded to researchers by more than $400 million—is even steeper for engineering, education, and computing sciences, as well as NSF’s new technology directorate. The finding, revealed by an independent analysis of NSF’s publicly available database, contrasts with NSF’s public claims. Read more:  Science   NSF construction budget defunded as Trump challenges ‘emergency’ spending The National Science Foundation’s budget for major construction projects is set to be eliminated for fiscal year 2025 after President Donald Trump canceled some of the “emergency” funds appropriated by Congress last month, disputing the “emergency” designation. Top Senate appropriators argue the action is illegal and puts at risk all $12.4 billion of the emergency funding allocated across agencies including NASA. If Trump’s decision stands, it is unclear if NSF would be able to transfer money from other accounts to cover the $234 million shortfall in its Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) account. Read more:  AIP   In Case You Missed It—Important Research News from NSF This Week   Ultrathin conductor developed for nanoelectronics could be better than copper With grants and research infrastructure provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation, researchers have shown that a newly developed material, niobium phosphide, can conduct electricity better than copper in films that are only a few atoms thick. These films can also be created and deposited at sufficiently low temperatures for compatibility with modern computer chip fabrication — and may help make future electronics more powerful and energy efficient. The research is led by Stanford University and results were published in Science. Learn more:  Nanoelectronics   Oceans and Atmosphere   Acting NOAA head removed, chief of staff in charge, sources say NOAA chief of staff Laura Grimm is now the agency’s acting administrator after the Commerce Department on Tuesday moved Nancy Hann back to her career position. This move put a political appointee in charge of the weather, climate, and oceans agency. Grimm will presumably hold the role until the Senate determines the fate of Neil Jacobs, President Trump’s pick for administrator. Read more:  Axios   Environment       Judge hammers EPA over lack of proof of wrongdoing in terminating $20B in climate grants A federal judge on Wednesday blasted the Trump administration for still offering no proof of wrongdoing in trying to claw back $20 billion in climate grants and questioned whether EPA used the proper legal tools to terminate the contracts. Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who weeks ago ordered the cash be kept in Citibank’s accounts for the time being, pressed a Justice Department attorney to explain EPA’s reasoning for ending the grants last month. Read more:  Politico   EPA to move staff from Reagan Building to consolidate D.C. office space The Environmental Protection Agency is downsizing its office space in the national capital region. Michael Molina, EPA’s principal deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Mission Support, told employees in an email Tuesday that the agency will “completely” move personnel out of the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, D.C. by this summer, and relocate them to other nearby office buildings. The consolidation will impact about 650 EPA employees working in the Reagan Building. Read more:  Federal News Network   Agriculture   Brooke Rollins to Iowa farmers: USDA weighing aid as Trump tariffs loom As President Donald Trump plans to impose sweeping global tariffs this week, administration officials continue to discuss providing financial aid to U.S. farmers and ranchers likely to be again caught in the middle of an escalating trade war. In her first visit to Iowa, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Monday said the administration may provide emergency aid to farmers — as it did during Trump’s first term — to offset losses from retaliatory tariffs on agriculture exports imposed by America’s trading partners. Read more:  The Gazette   Boozman, Thompson to discuss farm bill, reconciliation Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) told The Hagstrom Report on Tuesday he and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA) will meet to talk about the farm bill and budget reconciliation. In an interview after a hearing Tuesday on whole milk in school meals, Boozman said the two chairmen will discuss the possibility of including an increase in the reference prices that trigger crop subsidies in the reconciliation bill. Thompson said last week that Senate leaders have assured him that an increase in reference prices would pass muster with the Byrd rule that requires all provisions in reconciliation bills affect spending. Read more:  The Fence Post   USDA prepares for 'reduction in force' The U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned its 100,000-plus employees that major staff cuts are coming, offices will be closed, and people will be forced to relocate if they want to keep their jobs. USDA employees have been given the option to quit with up to six months in pay if they choose to take it. The USDA Office of the Secretary provided employees this week with new details on another Deferred Resignation Program (DRP 2.0) and offered some broad details about the larger shakeup in USDA staff. Read more:  Progressive Farmer