Washington Week in Science - November 21, 2025

 

A Weekly Update of Policy News and Select Funding Opportunities Compiled by Van Scoyoc Associates View this email in your browser November 21, 2025 Washington Week in Science will not be published next week with the Thanksgiving holiday

Health   NIH grant cuts have disrupted hundreds of clinical trials, study finds The second Trump administration has been defined by widespread cuts to federal spending, including at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A new analysis reveals that the termination of NIH grants has disrupted at least 383 clinical trials, which collectively include more than 74,000 patients. The study, published on Nov. 17 in JAMA Internal Medicine, is a stark example of the real-world repercussions of Trump’s health cuts. Read more:  Fierce Biotech   CDC says claims that vaccines do not cause autism are not evidence-based The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its website on Wednesday to say that claims about vaccines not causing autism are not "evidence-based." Vaccine skeptic and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well as U.S. President Donald Trump have promoted the theory - contrary to scientific evidence - that childhood vaccines are a cause of autism. But the CDC's website previously said "studies have shown there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder." Read more:  Reuters   Trump administration lists 16 new CDC initiatives, from hepatitis B testing to bolstering workforce Trump administration officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention laid out 16 strategic initiatives this week, many of them bolstering health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s priorities, according to an internal agency memo obtained by STAT. The list, which acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill shared with employees, includes “enhancing scientific rigor,” new disease surveillance tools, “downsizing” animal testing, and increasing screening for hepatitis B in pregnant women. Read more:  STAT News   RFK Jr. reiterates he doesn’t think peanut allergies are exposure problem Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaking Monday at a Food Allergy Fund event, said he disagrees with a popular theory surrounding the increased level of peanut allergies in the U.S. in recent decades. According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 0.5 percent of kids around the world had a peanut allergy in 1997. Numbers have skyrocketed since then, with 2 percent of children now being allergic to peanuts. Read more:  The Hill   RFK Jr. adviser to rejoin administration, bridging MAHA-MAGA divide Calley Means, a confidant to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is taking a permanent post in the Trump administration, where he is expected to serve as a bridge between the Make America Healthy Again movement and President Trump’s broader MAGA coalition. Means, who earlier this year served in a temporary role at the White House, has been tapped to be a senior adviser in the Department of Health and Human Services, charged with helping to ensure the success of the MAHA movement’s policy goals, according to people familiar with the matter. In a statement, HHS confirmed that Means has been hired as a “senior advisor supporting food and nutrition policy.” Read more:  WSJ   NIH database needs cybersecurity improvements, watchdog finds The National Institutes of Health didn’t ensure that the entity housing personal health information of over 1 million people — including biosamples — implemented proper cybersecurity protocols, according to an internal watchdog. In a report publicly released Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General made five recommendations for the security of the All of Us program — a database of diverse health information from 1 million participants that’s meant to aid research — after finding weaknesses. Read more:  FedScoop   Defense   Senate panel stalls Pentagon policy office nominees amid feud Republican leaders on the Senate Armed Services Committee have nixed plans to vote on a pair of President Donald Trump’s defense nominees amid a dispute with the Pentagon’s third most senior leader, according to three people familiar with the situation. The rare move by Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) to delay the votes is a hard flex from traditional Republicans in the committee’s public fight with the nominees’ boss, Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby. Read more:  Politico   Pentagon announces nearly $9 billion in contracts over six-week shutdown Now that the US government is open after the longest shutdown in history, the Pentagon is playing catchup, announcing nearly $9 billion in scores of contract awards on Thursday, including a potential big-ticket win for Boeing’s Chinook line with funds aligned to move out with a deal for German aircraft. Read more:  Breaking Defense   Pentagon pares down list of critical emerging technology areas The Defense Department’s CTO has revised its list of critical technology areas — reducing the number of research-and-development priorities by more than half. The Pentagon announced on Monday that the 14 critical technology areas established during the Biden administration will be trimmed to just six categories. In a video shared on LinkedIn, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael emphasized that the shortened list will steer the department’s efforts to efficiently deliver the emerging capabilities that warfighters need. Read more:  DefenseScoop   Can quantum sensing improve magnetic navigation? Pentagon thinks one company is on the right trackQuantum devices that measure Earth's magnetic fields could help replace GPS—if researchers can figure out how to tell when such devices are working well, or even at all. A Pentagon contract suggests one company is solving that key problem. On Tuesday, SandboxAQ announced an agreement with the Defense Innovation Unit to join the Transition of Quantum Sensing program, or TQS, which allows the military to test the company’s AQNav software aboard a range of aircraft under a variety of conditions, according to a release viewed exclusively by Defense One. Read more: Defense One   NDAA on track for mid-December The House and Senate are very close to a compromise deal on the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with the policy bill on track for a floor vote in the next few weeks, according to Rep. Rob Wittman, R-VA. “The NDAA is making great progress. I think we are just about finished with all the issues involving HASC [the House Armed Services Committee] and SASC [Senate Armed Services Committee]. The other issues remaining to be resolved are issues having to do with other committee jurisdictions, and those mostly are relegated to the Senate, so they’re trying to work through those particular issues.” he told the State of Defense Business Acquisition Summit sponsored by Defense One. Read more:  Breaking Defense   Energy   Energy Department cuts two major clean-energy offices The Energy Department is eliminating two of its biggest offices that channeled billions of dollars into clean-energy projects, another step in President Trump’s efforts to put a chokehold on federal funds for technologies designed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The DOE is cutting the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, according to an organizational chart the DOE unveiled Thursday as the Trump administration moves to further unwind Biden-era climate policies and advance fossil-fuel projects. Read more:  WSJ   US offshore drilling proposal includes auctions off California coast The U.S. Interior Department on Thursday unveiled a plan to hold as many as 34 oil and gas lease sales between 2026 and 2031 in the Gulf of Mexico and in federal waters off the coasts of Alaska and California. The proposal is aligned with Trump's energy dominance agenda to supercharge domestic fossil fuel production. The plan includes 21 sales off the coast of Alaska starting next year, seven in the Gulf of Mexico and six in the Pacific Ocean from Northern to Southern California. Read more:  Reuters   Nieh confirmed for the NRC The U.S. Senate officially confirmed Ho Nieh in a 66–32 vote to serve as a commissioner on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission through the remainder of a term that will expire June 30, 2029. All present Republicans, alongside 15 Democrats and one Independent, cast their votes in favor of Nieh, who was nominated by President Trump in July and fills the seat left vacant following the dismissal of former commissioner Christopher Hanson. The commission leading the NRC now comprises four members. Read more:  Nuclear Newswire   X-energy starts building construction for advanced nuclear fuel facility X-energy announced the start of vertical construction for its TX-1 fuel fabrication facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The facility will be the first of its kind in the United States and will manufacture the company’s proprietary TRISO fuel for its commercial reactors. X-energy subsidiary TRISO-X recently selected Clark Construction Group for a $48.2 million award as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program to complete vertical construction. Read more:  DOE   DOE announces partnership with Fermilab and Qblox to manufacture Quantum Control Platform The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Technology Commercialization announced on Tuesday a partnership between Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) and Qblox to manufacture and distribute the Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit (QICK) in the United States. The QICK Kit developed at Fermilab is a fully integrated, cost effective, 32 RF/DC channel box with maximum flexibility for scientists. It plays a critical role in synchronizing quantum processors and sensors, making it a foundational technology for the growing quantum ecosystem. Read more:  HPC Wire   Space   NASA releases new photos of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS NASA on Wednesday released new images of an interstellar comet, just the third visitor ever confirmed from elsewhere in the galaxy, which show the object as a bright point of light surrounded by a blurry halo of gas and dust. In the long-awaited photos, the comet, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, mostly appears as an illuminated dot, but some images also reveal its tail as a faint, elongated smudge. Read more: NBC News   Senate to hold hearing for billionaire Jared Isaacman's re-nomination as NASA chief on Dec. 3 Jared Isaacman will head back to Capitol Hill early next month. The U.S. Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing on Dec. 3 to consider the nomination of the billionaire tech entrepreneur and private astronaut as NASA chief. Isaacman, who founded the payments company Shift4, has been through this before: He went through a nomination hearing on April 9, 3.5 months after President Donald Trump first tapped him for the top NASA job. Read more:  Space.com   Science and Technology   Trump mulling executive order to block state AI laws President Trump is considering an executive order to block state AI laws as the White House pushes for a federal framework on the technology. The order would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to establish a task force focused on challenging state AI measures and seek to restrict some federal funding to states who pass laws that are deemed “onerous,” according to a draft obtained by The Hill. It would also direct the Federal Trade Commission to issue a policy statement on how a law prohibiting unfair and deceptive practices would apply to AI models and how it could preempt state AI laws. Read more:  The Hill   Fundamental Science and Technology   Totaling about $3 billion in unspent funds, the cuts by the Trump administration reshaped science In 2025, more than 3,800 research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation were terminated or frozen as part of the Trump administration’s effort to realign funding priorities. As of November 2025, NIH has seen about $2.3 billion in unspent funds across nearly 2,500 grants frozen or terminated. At NSF, over 1,300 grants had about $700 million in unspent funds cut. While this doesn’t capture the full extent of government cuts — science-focused agencies such NASA, NOAA and the EPA aren’t included — it does highlight the breadth of the reductions and the ripple effects likely to be felt throughout the scientific community for years to come.Bottom of Form The cuts — totaling about $3 billion in remaining funds — targeted initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion; environmental protection; vaccine hesitancy; public health and more. Read more:  Science News   NSF Issues statement on resumption of operations On November 17th, the National Science Foundation issued a statement about resumption of operations at the agency, as well as FAQs regarding the research community. Read more:  NSF   NSF to remain in Alexandria, but in a smaller building The headquarters of the National Science Foundation will remain in Alexandria but in a smaller office, according to a joint announcement last week by the NSF and the U.S. General Services Administration, which manages the federal government‘s real estate. The new NSF headquarters will be located at the 382,000-square-foot Randolph Building at 401 Dulany St. in the Carlyle neighborhood on the same campus as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In June, the GSA announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would relocate its headquarters and about 2,700 employees from Washington, D.C., to the NSF’s current headquarters at 2415 Eisenhower Ave. in Alexandria, where it occupies about 661,000 square feet. Read more:  Virginia Business   Oceans and Atmosphere   Committee advances climate, science nominees The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved nominations Wednesday for key environment and science-focused positions in the Trump administration. The panel approved the nomination of Timothy Petty for deputy administrator at NOAA on a bipartisan 21-7 vote, with only Democrats voting in opposition. Petty has been an aide to multiple members of Congress and on various committees, handling matters on water, natural resources, infrastructure, science and technology. He also served as assistant secretary for water and science at the Interior Department during the first Trump administration, and as the acting assistant secretary in the George W. Bush administration. Read more:  E&E News   Environment   Cop30 draft text omits mention of fossil fuel phase-out roadmap A new draft text on the outcome of the Cop30 climate talks has been published that contains no mention of a phase-out of fossil fuels, despite countries supporting such action having threatened to block any agreement without it. The Guardian revealed on Thursday night that at least 29 nations supporting a phase-out of fossil fuels at the climate summit had sent a letter to the Brazilian Cop presidency threatening to block any agreement that did not include such a commitment, in a significant escalation of tensions at the crunch talks. Read more:  The Guardian   EPA proposes scaled-back definition of protected US waters The EPA proposed Monday a revised definition of waters of the US, putting the second Trump administration’s stamp on wetlands protections. The proposal aims to bring Clean Water Act protections for waters and wetlands in line with the US Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Sackett v. EPA, which reduced the scope of federal jurisdiction over waters and wetlands. If finalized, the rule would reverse the Biden administration’s definition of waters of the US, or WOTUS, continuing a nearly two-decade tradition of each new president updating the terms of federal waterway protections. The public will have 45 days to comment on the proposal once it’s published in the Federal Register. Read more:  Bloomberg Law   Trump moves to strip protections for endangered and threatened species The Trump administration moved on Wednesday to roll back Biden-era protections for endangered species and their habitats. The Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service proposed restoring rules from the first Trump administration that stripped safeguards for plants and animals threatened by human development and a warming planet. Read more:  CNN   Agriculture   Trump administration will require SNAP participants to reapply for benefits The Trump administration will require millions of low-income people to reapply for food stamps as part of an effort to crack down on “fraud,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said. Rollins told Newsmax on Thursday that she plans to “have everyone reapply for their benefits, make sure that everyone that’s taking a taxpayer-funded benefit through ... food stamps, that they literally are vulnerable and they can’t survive without it.” She did not provide further information on when or how people would need to reapply. Read more:  Politico   USDA announces second round of disaster relief for 2023-24 losses The USDA says next week producers can start enrolling for the second wave of the Supplemental Crop Disaster Assistance Program. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Stephen Vaden says the program covers eligible commodities that were not covered under the first application process, including shallow losses, uninsured, and quality losses caused by 2023 and 2024 natural disasters. “Between the two stages of the Supplemental Disaster Relief program, USDA will deliver in total more than $16 billion in Congressionally approved assistance to America’s farmers,” he says. Read more:  Brownfield Ag News   USDA to study small enterprise poultry operations The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), in collaboration with the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), is conducting a comprehensive national study of the small enterprise poultry industry in the U.S. This study will provide an in-depth look at small enterprise poultry operations, offering new and valuable insights into management and biosecurity practices across this vital segment of the U.S. poultry industry. The findings will help inform producers, policymakers and animal health professionals, contributing to improved animal health strategies and more resilient poultry systems. Read more:  Feedstuffs   Federal workforce data reveal impact of Trump admin RIFs on USDA food safety expertise A new analysis of U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data conducted by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) has painted a picture of the effect that Trump-era federal workforce cuts are having on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) food safety work. According to NSAC, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have been particularly hard-hit. Read more:  Food Safety Magazine   House Dems oppose Save the Bacon; USDA plans study A group of 182 Democratic House members have sent House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., ranking member on the committee, a letter stating their opposition to the Save Our Bacon (SOB) Act, H.R. 4673, led by Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, a bill that aims to prevent states and localities from imposing production standards on livestock and their derived products sold in interstate commerce. Read more:  Tri State Livestock News