Former Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill speaks at a Make America Healthy Again occasion in September 2025.
Francis Chung / POLITICO through AP Images
Trump to appoint former HHS official to go NSF
The White House plans to appoint Jim O’Neill to be the subsequent director of the National Science Foundation. Until lately, O’Neill was serving as appearing director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a place now assumed by National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya. O’Neill worked
for the Department of Health and Human Services throughout George W. Bush’s administration and later turned an investor, together with for the Thiel Foundation program Breakout Labs,
which funded early-stage commercialization of scientific analysis.
“Jim O’Neill spent over a decade in the private sector helping identify and finance cutting-edge technologies of the future. In the Trump administration, Jim O’Neill played a key role at HHS by slashing fraud and restoring the Gold Standard of Science over ideology as the driving factor behind agency decision-making,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai stated. Previous confirmed NSF directors
have usually had expertise conducting science or engineering analysis.
NSF has been with no director since Sethuraman Panchanathan resigned
in April of final yr amid widespread grant cuts, a proposed 50% reduce to the company’s price range within the presidential price range request, and the specter of workers cuts. Brian Stone, the company’s chief of workers, at the moment serves as appearing director.
House Science Democrats probe new NIST restrictions on international researchers
Democrats on the House Science Committee are pressing
the National Institute of Standards and Technology for solutions on coverage modifications limiting entry for international researchers. Boulder Reporting Lab reported
earlier this month that the company has begun implementing a three-year restrict for worldwide graduate college students and postdoctoral researchers to conduct analysis at NIST. The letter from House Science Democrats says this “effectively prevents any foreign student from being able to complete a doctorate at NIST.” NIST didn’t reply to a request for remark, however the company launched an announcement to some outlets
saying that the coverage stays “under development.”
NIST stated its change was a “proposed update to decision-making criteria for safeguarding U.S. science at NIST” that aligns with a presidential memo on nationwide safety and the company’s personal analysis safety framework. The letter from House Science Democrats criticizes the reported modifications, saying they “radically overstep… what is reasonable and appropriate to protect research security.” It asks for documentation of the coverage or proposed change and the way the coverage has been communicated to NIST workers, including that these questions had been despatched to NIST in late January with a deadline of Feb. 13 and weren’t answered.
House Science Republicans request overview of AI legal guidelines
Republicans on the House Science Committee have requested the Government Accountability Office to review
federal and state AI rules “to inform future legislative efforts.” A letter, despatched by Science Committee Chair Brian Babin (R-TX) and Research and Technology Subcommittee Chair Jay Obernolte (R-CA), references an executive order
referring to AI issued throughout President Donald Trump’s first time period, however not the president’s December order
in search of to dam state-level AI rules that don’t use a “minimally burdensome national policy framework.” Meanwhile, NIST announced
the launch of its AI Agent Standards Initiative final week, which goals to “foster the emerging ecosystem of industry-led AI standards and protocols,” in collaboration with the National Science Foundation.
Also on our radar
- The Merit Systems Protection Board has issued a final rule
eradicating sure attraction rights for federal staff moved into excepted service positions. The rule is a response to a last rule by OPM that may permit businesses to reclassify
doubtlessly 1000’s of federal jobs as Schedule/Policy Career positions. Both guidelines go into impact March 9. - Republicans in Congress are investigating
NASA’s compliance with the Wolf Amendment, which prohibits the company from direct cooperation with China or Chinese-owned corporations until licensed by the FBI. - DOD formally established
its Science, Technical, and Innovation Board, which merges
the previous Defense Science Board and Defense Innovation Board. - Alabama enacted
a legislation that sharply limits the analysis that state businesses can depend on when creating environmental rules and prohibits these rules from being extra stringent than their federal equivalents. - Thirty-one universities agreed to end partnerships
with The Ph.D. Project, which helps enterprise doctoral candidates from underrepresented backgrounds, following investigations by the Department of Education, which stated the group “unlawfully limits eligibility based on the race of participants.” - GAO issued a report
on march-in rights,
which permit a funding company to grant third-party licensing of innovations from federally funded analysis. The report signifies that utilizing march-in rights to decrease prescription drug prices would have an effect on solely a small variety of medication.