Washington Week in Science - June 27, 2025

 

June 27, 2025

Washington Week in Science will not be published next week with the July 4 holiday   Health   CDC advisory panel, selected by RFK Jr., recommends thimerosal be dropped from flu vaccines A federal vaccine advisory panel, which health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently stacked with handpicked members, recommended on Thursday that Americans should not receive flu vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal. The votes — there were three related to the topic — reflected new members’ concerns about safety issues tied to the preservative, despite numerous studies conducted over the past quarter-century that have found no such issues. Read more:  STAT News   Kennedy’s vaccine panel to review childhood immunization schedule At the first meeting of the CDC’s panel of outside vaccine advisers since Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overhauled it with new members, the group said it will review childhood vaccines and shots not studied in more than seven years. The decision by the new group, tasked with reviewing the childhood immunization schedule, could open the door to changes on how and when children are immunized. Read more:  Politico   RFK Jr. grilled by Congress over health spending cuts, vaccine overhaul House members on June 24 grilled Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for roughly three hours during a hearing, sparring with the Health and Human Services Department chief over a range of topics. Kennedy testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on the health department's 2026 budget, with House members demanding answers about funding cuts to critical programs as well as his stances on vaccine oversight, addiction recovery, emergency abortions, HIV prevention and dietary guidelines. Read more:  USA Today   RFK Jr. says U.S. will stop funding global vaccine group over 'vaccine safety' issues The international vaccine agency, Gavi, has strongly rejected Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s accusations that it was not following scientific data on vaccines, after he said the U.S. would halt all contributions unless the body made changes to its practices. Kennedy's remarks were made at a Gavi pledging summit in Brussels on Wednesday, where countries and philanthropies promise to deliver funds. A video of Kennedy's remarks, first reported by Politico and later posted by The New York Times, shows him praising Gavi for its mission of making medicine affordable to everyone but then pivoting to criticisms. Read more:  NPR   Trump US CDC nominee backs vaccines as life-saving President Donald Trump's nominee for director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was pulled into the middle of growing political contention over U.S. vaccine policy on Wednesday, describing the medications as "life-saving" and telling a Senate panel that she has not seen evidence linking vaccines and autism. If confirmed, Susan Monarez, a career public health official who served as acting director of the agency until her nomination, will report to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Read more:  Reuters   NIH halts grant terminations ‘effective immediately,’ email says Days after a federal judge ordered the restoration of more than 1,000 biomedical research grants, the National Institutes of Health is halting further terminations of grants, an internal email shows. Since President Trump’s inauguration in January, the nation’s largest biomedical research funder has terminated an unprecedented number of research grants. The email obtained by STAT does not state the reason for the decision, but it came a week after a federal judge in Boston ruled that some of the terminations were “void and illegal” — and just hours after the judge refused the administration’s request to pause his order. Read more:  STAT News   Top drug regulator is retiring as FDA departures mount Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, the top drug regulator at the Food and Drug Administration, is retiring from the agency in July. Corrigan-Curay, who took over as acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in January, broke the news to staff in an email shared with STAT. She said she decided to leave the agency after taking a recent vacation, and thanked staff for their “unwavering support, especially during recent challenging times.” Read more:  STAT News   FDA requires updated warning about rare heart risk with COVID shots The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it has expanded existing warnings on the two leading COVID-19 vaccines about a rare heart side effect mainly seen in young men. Myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation that is usually mild, emerged as a complication after the first shots became widely available in 2021. Prescribing information from both Pfizer and Moderna already advises doctors about the issue. Read more:  ABC News   Defense   Pentagon to request $848 billion in delayed base budget release The Pentagon is requesting $848.3 billion for its fiscal year 2026 budget, a cut to core military spending when accounting for inflation. But while releasing many of the military’s detailed budget materials Thursday, senior military and defense officials argued that their request should factor in a separate party-line spending bill now under debate in Congress. Read more:  Defense News   House passes $435 billion spending plan for VA in fiscal 2026 House Republicans on Wednesday approved plans for a $435.3 billion budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs in fiscal 2026, putting the department in line for a significant funding boost despite objections from congressional Democrats. The 218-206 partisan vote, with just two Democrats voting for the measure and no Republicans opposing it, represents the first appropriations package approved for next fiscal year by either chamber of Congress, but does not necessarily mean a fast track ahead for the VA budget becoming law. Read more:  Military Times   Revised Senate bill slashes money for military operations at US-Mexico border The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday released an updated plan for defense spending in a bill from Republicans to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda, slashing money for military operations on the U.S.-Mexico border while increasing funds for defense supply chains. The latest iteration of the $150 billion measure to modernize America’s military and strengthen national security is part of a sweeping tax cut and spending bill that Republicans hope to pass through both chambers of Congress and send to Trump’s desk by July 4. The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation in the coming days. Read more:  Stars & Stripes   Iran remains security threat even after airstrikes, CENTCOM warns President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the next head of U.S. Central Command warned lawmakers on Tuesday that Iran still has “considerable tactical capabilities” even after recent airstrikes from Israeli and American forces, and will remain a security threat for the foreseeable future. Vice Adm. Charles B. Cooper II, who has served as the top deputy at Central Command since February 2024, said that the recent assaults have degraded some of Iran’s military but declined to give specifics on whether their fledgling nuclear program has been eliminated. Read more:  Defense News   Female troops played key roles in B-2, submarine strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities Operation Midnight Hammer, the name of the U.S. military's coordinated strikes against three of Iran's nuclear facilities last weekend, marked the longest B-2 Spirit stealth bomber mission since 2001 and the inaugural use of the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb in combat. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised the work of "our boys in those bombers" during a press conference at the Pentagon on Sunday. But female troops also played key roles in the Iran strikes. Read more:  Military.com   Pentagon AI office, Army award Ask Sage $10M for GenAI expansion Pentagon officials are so enthusiastic about the Army’s month-old generative artificial intelligence toolkit that Chief Digital & AI Office (CDAO) just gave lead contractor Ask Sage another $10 million to expand it to combatant commands and key Pentagon offices. Known as the Army Enterprise Large Language Model Workspace, the toolkit grew out of the service’s “Project Athena” initiative to study potential uses — and misuses — of GenAI for back-office functions, like summarizing masses of densely written official documentation for contracting and policymaking. Read more:  Breaking Defense   House Republicans advance 2026 Homeland Security funding bill House Republicans advanced legislation on Tuesday laying out funding plans for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal 2026, calling for boosts to immigration enforcement efforts. The GOP-led House Appropriations Committee approved the bill along party lines on Tuesday evening after members spent hours debating the legislation and proposed changes to the text. Read more:  The Hill   Energy   Moniz-led group calls for DOE overhaul  The Department of Energy needs to “modernize” its loan office and grant programs to ensure effective deployment of large projects and move technologies across the “valleys of death,” according to a new report. The analysis from the EFI Foundation, which was founded by former DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz, provides a snapshot of challenges facing federally funded energy demonstrations. The group interviewed 20 developers of projects representing $9.7 billion in investments funded by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law and reported DOE’s current structure can cause lengthy delays, frustration and unnecessary costs with project applications. Read more:  E&E News   Centrus achieves key production milestone with delivery of 900 kilograms of HALEU On Wednesday, Centrus Energy announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, the American Centrifuge Operating, LLC, has produced and delivered 900 kilograms of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) to the U.S. Department of Energy, reaching a critical milestone as the company pioneers first-of-a-kind HALEU production. Read more:  Centrus   National lab conducts first-ever high burnup U.S. fuel safety test Idaho National Laboratory (INL) researchers just wrapped up a nuclear fuel test that has never been performed before in the United States. Results from the first-of-a-kind experiment will provide important data that could help boost the performance and lower the amount of waste generated at nuclear power plants across the country. Read more:  DOE   Interior raises bar for probationary employees to stay hired The Interior Department has barred the automatic hiring of new employees at the end of their probationary period, a change that is part of a broader Trump administration effort to reshape the federal workforce. Under the mandate, federal employees will be terminated at the end of their trial employment — usually one to two years from their hiring date — unless the agency determines otherwise, according to a personnel bulletin from Jennifer Ackerman, director of Interior’s Office of Human Capital. It was signed Monday. Read more:  E&E News   Interior streamlines offshore mineral policies to strengthen U.S. supply chains and security On Wednesday, the Department of the Interior announced new policy steps to speed up the search and development of critical minerals offshore—resources vital to the nation’s energy, technology and defense needs. To support a more efficient and predictable offshore minerals program, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, or BSEE, are updating policies across all stages of development—from early exploration to post-lease operations and production. These updates are designed to reduce delays, improve coordination and provide greater certainty for industry, all while upholding key environmental safeguards. Read more:  DOI   Space   NASA’s acting leadership planning new agency structure NASA’s acting administrator expects to decide on a new “top-level” structure for the agency within weeks, but a Senate-confirmed administrator may not be in place until next year. Agency leadership, including acting administrator Janet Petro, held a town hall for NASA employees June 25. The town hall webcast was not open to the public but a recording of it was obtained by Space News and separately posted online. At the town hall, Petro said she was working on a reorganization of the agency that could change how the agency is structured and alter lines of reporting within it. Read more:  Space News   Mysterious fast radio burst turns out to be from long-dead NASA satellite A team of astronomers and astrophysicists affiliated with several institutions in Australia has found that a mysterious fast radio burst (FRB) detected last year originated not from a distant source, but from one circling the planet—a long-dead satellite. The team has posted a paper outlining their findings on the arXiv preprint server. Read more:  Phys.org   Science and Technology   White House wants 'gold standard science' plans from agencies The White House is asking federal agencies to report within 60 days on how they will restore "gold standard science." The memo, from Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, follows President Donald Trump's May executive order, which said agencies had contributed to a “loss of trust” in science with flawed COVID and environmental guidance and projects related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Read more:  PoliticoPro   Fundamental Science and Engineering   HUD plans move into NSF building The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development announced plans Wednesday to move 2,700 workers into the National Science Foundation’s office building in Alexandria, Va. The news comes amid widespread cuts to the NSF and about a week after all remote NSF employees were required to return to in-person work at the agency’s headquarters or risk losing their jobs. It’s not yet clear where the 1,833 NSF employees who work in the building will relocate to, but General Services Administration Public Buildings Service Commissioner Michael Peters said at a news conference Wednesday that the government is aiming for minimal disruptions to those employees' lives, The Washington Post reported. Read more:  Inside Higher Education   Judge sides with universities, blocking NSF’s 15% Indirect Cost Cap A federal judge has granted a summary judgment in favor of several universities and higher education organizations that had sued the National Science Foundation over its attempt to limit the reimbursement of indirect costs associated with research grants funded by the agency. In her 52-page ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani vacated NSF’s recently announced policy of capping its indirect cost payments at a standard rate of 15%, declaring it “invalid, arbitrary and capricious, and contrary to law.” She also ordered NSF to provide written notice of her decision “to all funding recipients affected by the 15% Indirect Cost Rate” within 72 hours. Read more:  Forbes   NSF invests $25.5 million in research to drive new U.S. manufacturing technologies and talent pipelines The U.S. National Science Foundation has announced a $25.5 million investment to support fundamental research and workforce development aimed at enabling future generations of U.S. manufacturing. This year's awards will support seven research grants and nine seed projects across 36 institutions and companies through the NSF Future Manufacturing (NSF FM) program. This program focuses on areas such as biomanufacturing, cyber manufacturing and ecomanufacturing, with some efforts exploring intersections with quantum manufacturing. Read more:  NSF   In Case You Missed It—Important Research News From NSF This Week   Superconducting material stabilized at everyday pressure Researchers at the University of Houston have stabilized a composite material in a superconducting state at ambient or normal, everyday pressure. Their technique, called the "pressure-quench protocol," offers a new approach for exploring and developing superconducting materials, which have the potential to enable highly efficient electronic devices and minimal energy loss in power grids. This study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also included contributions from researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Illinois Chicago. Learn more:  Superconducting Material   Ever-changing universe revealed in first imagery from NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a major new scientific facility, released its first imagery this week at an event in Washington, D.C. The imagery shows cosmic phenomena captured at an unprecedented scale. In just over 10 hours of test observations, NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory has already captured millions of galaxies and Milky Way stars and thousands of asteroids. Learn more:  Vera C. Rubin Observatory   Microbes from Brooklyn could help mitigate industrial contamination Microorganisms with extreme abilities have laid the groundwork for decades of biotechnologies from the PCR technique that enables amplification of DNA for diagnostics and drug development to the gene editing tool CRISPR, and now researchers supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation have found a trove of these microbes in a somewhat unlikely location — the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. The team identified more than 450 species with over 60 different biochemical pathways to deal with pollutants and 1,171 genes that can aid in processing heavy metals, offering potential for bio-based and cheaper methods of industrial clean-up. Learn more:  Brooklyn Microbes   NSF ZEUS becomes the most powerful laser in the U.S. The U.S. National Science Foundation Zettawatt-Equivalent Ultrashort pulse laser System (NSF ZEUS) laser facility at the University of Michigan now has the most powerful laser in the U.S., with roughly double the peak power of any other laser in the country. Researchers at NSF ZEUS achieved a laser pulse of two petawatts (2 quadrillion watts) in a brief pulse that lasted 25 quintillionths of a second. In that moment, the laser exceeded the total global output of electrical power by more than 100 times. Learn more:  NSF ZEUS   Oceans and Atmosphere   Feds cut satellite data forecasters say is crucial to tracking hurricanes: 'A huge loss' A month into the start of an Atlantic hurricane season that forecasters expect to be unusually busy, the federal government has announced plans to end the use of satellite data that hurricane experts say is crucial to tracking storms and spotting the early warning signs of rapid intensification. A service change notice issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Wednesday states that all data collected through the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program will be suspended by June 30. Read more:  NOLA   Environment   Federal wildland firefighters at Interior, USDA, ordered to merge into single force The Trump Administration is trying to streamline the way the federal government fights wildfires, calling for major organizational changes in the middle of fire season. In an executive order, President Trump ordered the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service to merge their wildland firefighting programs. The order gives the agencies 90 days to coordinate programs, budgets, procurement processes, research, and other functions, but does not say which agency will oversee the new unit. Read more:  FEDmanager   EPA announces updated interim maps developed under Its Endangered Species Protection Program The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of updated refined interim core maps that identify areas that EPA states are important to 12 threatened or endangered (listed) species and their critical habitats as designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The maps identify areas where listed species are likely to be located and areas where they are not, thus attempting to ensure that measures to protect listed species are only required in the areas where listed species are located. Read more:  National Law Review   Agriculture   Secretary Rollins rescinds roadless rule, eliminating impediment to responsible forest management On Monday U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced during a meeting of the Western Governors’ Association in New Mexico, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule. Calling the rule “outdated,” the Secretary said it contradicts the will of Congress and goes against the mandate of the USDA Forest Service to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands. Rescinding this rule will remove prohibitions on road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvest on nearly 59 million acres of the National Forest System. Read more:  USDA   Senate parliamentarian OKs Boozman committee’s revised SNAP proposal The U.S. Senate parliamentarian has determined revised language in Senate Republicans' tax and spending measure concerning the nation's largest nutrition assistance program meets the chamber's rules on legislation affecting spending and revenues. The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee -- under the leadership of Arkansas Republican Sen. John Boozman -- announced Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough's verdict on Thursday, two days after the committee revealed new text. Read more: Arkansas Democrat Gazette   USDA issues public warning about Thompson’s meat sauce The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for meat sauce products produced without the benefit of federal inspection. The producer, Thompson’s Spanish Sauce Manufacturing LLC in Marion, IN, does not have a federal grant of inspection. FSIS is issuing a public health alert because the company was unavailable to confirm their actions to remove affected products from commerce. Read more:  Food Safety News