Washington Week in Science - January 30, 2026

 Washington Week in Science - January 30, 2026

A Weekly Update of Policy News and Select Funding Opportunities Compiled by Van Scoyoc Associates View this email in your browser January 30, 2026

Health   HHS appoints 21 new members to federal autism advisory committee  The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday announced the appointment of 21 new members to a federal committee that advises health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on autism. Many of the new members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee share a common trait: They have publicly expressed or belong to groups that have publicly expressed a belief in the debunked claim that vaccines can cause autism. Read more:  STAT News   Life expectancy in United States hits all-time high: CDC People in the United States are living longer than ever before, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A report released Thursday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) found that the life expectancy of a person living in the U.S. was 79 years old in 2024, an increase of half a year compared with 2023. Read more:  The Hill   Dozens of CDC databases aren't being updated — most related to vaccines, study finds Nearly half of the databases that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used to update regularly — surveillance systems that tracked public health information like Covid vaccination rates and hospitalizations for respiratory syncytial virus — have been paused without explanation, according to new research. The findings, published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, indicate that at the start of 2025, the CDC maintained 82 databases that were updated at least monthly. But by the end of October, the study found 38 had gone stale, with 34 showing no new entries at all in the previous six months. Read more:  NBC News   Chair of CDC's vaccine advisory committee questions polio shot recommendation The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory committee questioned whether broad recommendations are necessary for vaccines that protect against polio and other infectious diseases. Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist who was appointed chair of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last month, said decisions on whether to receive a vaccine should be made by patients and doctors, not by mandate. Read more:  ABC News   Key NIH review panels due to lose all members by the end of 2026 Membership at many of the high-level advisory councils for the US National Institutes of Health is dwindling ― a decline that could trigger a freeze in issuance of some grants. Crucial grant-review panels for more than half of the institutes that make up the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are on track to lose all their voting members within the year. Federal law requires these panels to review applications for all but the smallest grants before funding can be awarded, meaning that the ability of those institutes to issue new grants could soon be frozen. Read more:  Nature   FDA halts two gene therapy trials after child develops brain tumor The FDA halted studies of two investigational gene therapies for rare pediatric diseases after a child treated in a clinical trial developed a brain tumor, RegenxBio said Wednesday. The holds affect RGX-111 and RGX-121, therapies designed to treat mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type I and type II, also known as Hurler and Hunter syndromes. Read more:  MedPageToday   Defense   War Department boards merge to form new Science, Technology and Innovation Board Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has approved a major overhaul of the War Department's legacy advisory boards, directing the merger of the Defense Innovation Board (DIB) and the Defense Science Board (DSB) into the new Science and Technology Innovation Board (STIB), pending formal establishment by the Federal Register. Read more:  DoD   New U.S. defense strategy ‘barely mentions technology’ The new National Defense Strategy broadly prioritizes the Trump administration’s plans for protecting U.S. territories and assets and juicing the military’s industrial base, but contains few references to specific technologies of interest. As it pivots the primary focus of America’s military more inward around the Western Hemisphere and urges allies to take on more burden-sharing against severe global challenges in other regions, the 2026 NDS includes noticeably less technology callouts than its recent predecessors. Read more:  DefenseScoop   New US defense strategy downgrades Europe, elevates Greenland The new U.S. defense strategy formally pushes Europe down Washington's list of priorities while elevating Greenland to a core homeland security concern — suggesting European allies will be expected to shoulder more responsibility for their own defense. “Although Europe remains important, it has a smaller and declining share of global economic power,” the National Defense Strategy, published late Friday, states. “It follows that while the United States will remain engaged in Europe, it must — and will — prioritize defending the U.S. homeland and deterring China.” Read more: Politico   Rubio defends Trump on Venezuela while trying to allay fears about Greenland and NATO Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a full-throated defense Wednesday of President Donald Trump’s military operation to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, while explaining to U.S. lawmakers the administration’s approach to Greenland, NATO, Iran and China. As Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee offered starkly different readings of the administration’s foreign policy, Rubio addressed Trump’s intentions and his often bellicose rhetoric that has alarmed U.S. allies in Europe and elsewhere, including demands to take over Greenland. Read more: AP News   Pentagon clashes with Anthropic over military AI use – sources The Pentagon and artificial-intelligence developer Anthropic are ​at odds over potentially eliminating safeguards that might allow the ‌government to use its technology to target weapons autonomously and conduct U.S. domestic ‌surveillance, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The discussions represent an early test case for whether Silicon Valley – in Washington’s good graces after years of tensions – can sway how U.S. military and ⁠intelligence personnel deploy increasingly ‌powerful AI on the battlefield. Read more:  Yahoo! News   Pentagon launches patent holiday to accelerate defense tech delivery The Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering has introduced a pilot program designed to accelerate the transition of defense technologies from the laboratory to warfighters. The office said Thursday the Defense Patent Holiday program aims to provide qualified companies with access to a select group of patents from defense labs through no-fee commercial evaluation licenses, or CEL. Read more:  ExecutiveGov   Energy   DOE doc reveals renewables office reorg The Energy Department on Wednesday laid out a new structure and staff changes within its Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, or CMEI, in an internal email obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News. The document provides details into how DOE is restructuring CMEI, an office that includes what was previously dubbed the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which focused on efficiency, wind, solar and hydrogen projects. Energy Secretary Chris Wright late last year revamped the agency to boost fossil fuels, minerals and nuclear power and said the renewables office would be absorbed into the newly created CMEI. Read more:  E&E News, DOE   Department of Energy announces new efforts to boost nuclear fuel supply chain The Department of Energy announced Wednesday an initiative aimed at building out the nation’s nuclear fuel supply chain as interest in the emissions-free power source grows. The DOE is asking states to express interest in hosting “Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses,” which would support activities across the nuclear fuel lifecycle – including recycling used fuel. Read more:  CNBC   Space   NASA research jet makes fiery 'wheels-up landing' after experiencing mechanical issue A NASA research aircraft crashed in a fiery landing accident, but luckily none of the crew aboard the jet were harmed. One of NASA's high-altitude WB-57 research jets skidded across the runway trailing fire and smoke behind it at Houston's Ellington Field on Tuesday after landing with its wheels up due to a mechanical issue. Read more:  Space.com   Earliest launch window to ISS set for February 11: NASA The next NASA crew rotation to the International Space Station could launch as early as the morning of February 11, the U.S. space agency said Wednesday. The launch was originally scheduled for February 15 but NASA eyed moving it up after the evacuation of a previous ISS crew. Read more:  Phys.org   NASA simulated launch of Artemis II mega moon rocket could happen as early as Saturday NASA will simulate a test launch of its Artemis II mega moon rocket as early as Saturday, with the space agency announcing its engineers are on track or ahead of schedule. The Artemis II mission, which could launch as early as Feb. 6, aims to send humans around the moon in preparation for the subsequent Artemis III mission that will land astronauts on its surface. The Artemis Program aims to put humans on the lunar surface by 2028. Read more:  Live Science   Fundamental Science and Technology   National Science Foundation signals plan to break up NCAR The National Science Foundation signaled plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in a letter that also opened the door to a private operation taking over. The letter marks the first official step toward dismantling the Boulder-based research center, advancing a Trump administration push that critics, such as Rep. Joe Neguse, say could put public safety at risk by privatizing weather forecasting. The science foundation's letter, published Friday, doubled down on the administration's intent to "restructure" NCAR and sought "input from agency partners and the research community on the scope of work currently performed" there. It also asked for input from possible operators on opening ownership of the NCAR's Mesa Lab building for "private use." Read more:  Axios   Oceans and Atmosphere   U.S. Interior Department agency solicits interest in seafloor mining off Alaska The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Tuesday it will soon release a formal “call for information” about possible sales of leases for minerals mining in federal waters off Alaska. The call for information will kick off a 30-day public comment period allowing industry to express interest in such a lease sale. “Alaska’s offshore holds strategic potential for the minerals that drive American industry, defense and next-generation technologies,” Matt Giacona, BOEM’s acting director, said in a statement. Read more:  Alaska Beacon   NOAA seeks more money and flexibility for commercial weather data program The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration intends to dramatically increase commercial weather data purchases, Taylor Jordan, Commerce Department assistant secretary for environmental observation and prediction, said Jan. 28. “We’re going to be looking at a high ceiling in billions of dollars over 10 years, which is going to show our commitment and our need for these data sources going forward,” Jordan, who is also director of the Office of Space Commerce, said at the American Meteorological Society annual meeting in Houston. Read more:  Space News   Environment   EPA plan would begin rolling back 'good neighbor' rule on downwind pollution from smokestacks The Trump administration on Wednesday took a step toward rolling back a rule that limits smokestack emissions that burden downwind areas in neighboring states. The so-called “good neighbor” rule is one of dozens of regulations that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has targeted for reconsideration or repeal. The Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that the EPA could not enforce the rule, which is intended to block coal-fired power plants and other industrial sites from adding significantly to air pollution across state lines. Read more:  US News & World Report   US EPA moves to take action on review of fluoride in drinking water The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the first step of its expedited review to determine safe levels of fluoride in drinking water, according to a notice posted in the Federal Register on Wednesday, advancing a priority of the Trump administration's "Make America Healthy Again" agenda. The agency's final toxicity assessment will inform potential revisions to fluoride drinking water standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act and will also support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations on fluoride in drinking water, according to the notice. Read more:  Reuters   EPA dings California over emissions inspections rule for out-of-state trucks The Trump administration on Tuesday said a California regulation applying heavy-duty emissions inspection and maintenance requirements to out-of-state trucks is unlawful and won’t count toward the state’s pollution reduction requirements. EPA did approve part of the rule requiring heavy-duty vehicles registered in the state to occasionally have their pollution control systems examined and repaired if needed, part of an effort to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions that plague air quality in much of the state. But inspections for trucks from other states or Mexico or Canada won’t count toward California’s progress in meeting air quality standards, EPA said. Read more:  Politico   Agriculture   U.S. Senate Dems probe effect of Trump administration child care cutback on rural families Several U.S. Senate Democrats launched an investigation into how the Trump administration’s child care funding cuts and policy changes are affecting rural families, in a Sunday letter provided exclusively to States Newsroom. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Raphael Warnock of Georgia led four of their colleagues in urging the respective heads of Rural Development at the Department of Agriculture and the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services to offer up more information on their “current capacity to support child care, particularly in rural communities.” Read more:  Successful Farming   Federal judge blocks Trump threats to remove Coloradans from SNAP A federal judge Wednesday temporarily blocked a Trump administration order issued last month that would have forced Colorado to recertify families with low incomes on food stamps or risk losing food assistance benefits. As part of what the U.S. Department of Agriculture called a pilot project, the administration Dec. 18 ordered Colorado to conduct in-person interviews for 100,000 households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or food stamps, in five counties within 30 days, a task attorneys for Colorado described as impossible. Read more:  Colorado Sun   House Ag chair still eyes fast track for fam bill 2.0 The chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee says he’s confident a Farm Bill 2.0 can move quickly in the U.S. House this year. “I’m hoping to get that on the House floor by the end of February, definitely going to do a markup done by the end of February.” G.T. Thompson tells Brownfield ag committee leaders on both sides of the aisle in the U.S. House understand the importance of getting this done, especially in the current economic climate. Read more:  Brownfield Ag News   USDA rejects synthetic compostable packaging for organic farm use The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has voted against adding synthetic compostable materials, such as those from biodegradable packaging, to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances due to potential PFAS and microplastics contamination. The decision follows a three-year campaign by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) to get the USDA to allow the use of certified compostable materials as compost feedstocks for organic farming. However, after an investigation, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) — an advisory board created by the USDA to help develop organic standards — unanimously voted against the motion, with 12 “no” votes and three absences. Read more:  Packaging Insights   New USDA portal enables reporting foreign-owned land A new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) online portal streamlines reporting of transactions of U.S. agricultural land by foreign persons, including businesses and governments, under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA). The new online portal is part of a broader effort to strengthen enforcement and protect American farmland, USDA said. Read more:  Texas Farm Bureau