Policy News Headlines

Last updated Feb. 13, 2025

Executive Branch
A sweeping spending freeze is paused by the courts before being withdrawn, a flurry of executive orders targets DEI and other initiatives from the previous administration, and efforts to shrink the federal workforce face pushback from unions and the courts.

Congress
Committees of the 119th Congress get to work, Congressional Democrats protest the new administration’s actions, and confirmation hearings and voting continue for nominees to fill Trump’s cabinet.

Federal Agencies
Science agencies pause some operations and grant reviews while NSF and NOAA revisit existing awards, a move to slash NIH overhead payments to research institutions is temporarily paused by the courts, and multiple agencies scrub mention of DEI from their websites.

Informational Resources
Trackers, government websites and other sources of information on science policy developments.

 

Executive Branch

Feb. 13, 2025

• US judge clears the way for tens of thousands of federal workers to take Trump buyout — Reuters

Feb. 12, 2025

• Climate reports vanish from federal science program website — Politico
• Oil and gas advocate named by Trump to lead agency that manages federal lands — Associated Press

Feb. 6, 2025

• Federal judge pauses Trump federal worker buyouts — The Hill
• Trump policies sow chaos, confusion across scientific community — Washington Post
• Trump team junks a major nature study — E&E News from Politico
• Trump admin halts NOAA-sponsored studies as DOGE work speeds up — E&E News from Politico

Feb. 4, 2025

• Trump picks Neil Jacobs to lead NOAA — E&E News from Politico
• Union sues over Trump buyout offer — The Hill

Jan. 30, 2025

• Trump Spending Freezes Sow Confusion Among Researchers — FYI from AIP
  • Related: The OMB memo (M-25-13)

Congress

Feb. 13, 2025

• Senate confirms RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary — CNN
• National lab funding freeze gets some GOP sympathy — E&E News from Politico

Feb. 12, 2025

• Republicans reup bill to dismantle Biden public lands rule — E&E News from Politico

Feb. 10, 2025

• House Republicans set their sights on national labs — E&E News from Politico
  • Related: Watch the Feb. 12 hearing here
• Kennedy, Gabbard nominations top this week’s congressional to-do list — Roll Call

Feb. 6, 2025

• Tonko Introduces Bipartisan Scientific Integrity Act — Press release

Feb. 4, 2025

• Senate confirms fracking executive Chris Wright as Trump’s energy secretary — Reuters

Feb. 3, 2025

• Trump Energy, budget picks set for Senate confirmation — E&E News from Politico

Jan. 30, 2025

• Senate confirms Doug Burgum as interior secretary after Trump tasked him to boost drilling — Associated Press

Federal Agencies

Feb. 10, 2025

• Federal judge grants restraining order on NIH funding cuts — The Hill

Feb. 9, 2025

• NOAA told to search grant programs for climate-related terms — Axios

Feb. 7, 2025

• NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage and lawsuit — ScienceInsider from AAAS
• Science Agencies Brace for Mass Layoffs — FYI from AIP

Feb. 6, 2025

• Trump moves to shutter environmental offices across the government — Washington Post
• Democrats escalate attacks as Trump EPA holds back climate spending — Politico

Feb. 4, 2025

• NSF reexamines existing awards to comply with Trump’s directives — ScienceInsider from AAAS
• Science funding agency threatened with mass layoffs — Politico

Feb. 2, 2025

• National Science Foundation restores payments after five-day pause, but worries over science funding persist — STAT News

Jan. 30, 2025

• EXCLUSIVE: NSF starts vetting all grants to comply with Trump’s orders — ScienceInsider from AAAS

Informational Resources

• NSF Implementation of Recent Executive Orders
• Latest memos from the Office of Personnel Management
• Akin Executive Order Tracker
• American Institute of Physics’ FYI science policy news & analysis
• EJToday daily digest of environment/energy news
• UC San Diego Library’s U.S. Government Information: Weekly Roundup

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