Sea Change in Washington
The American public has spoken, and the midterm election results will cause a sea change in who is in control in Congress. One constant remains: the American public wants Congress, no matter its composition or who is in charge, to prioritize medical progress. As our public opinion survey work has shown over the years, Americans overwhelmingly support scientific and medical research. In fact, 9 in 10 Americans want the U.S. to be a global leader in health research. For this election year specifically, nearly 9 in 10 Americans said it was important for candidates to champion faster medical progress.
Russ’s Corner
The day after the midterm elections, I was asked by some reporters to share my thoughts on the results. In my comments to Scientific American and Science, I highlighted that Americans have said repeatedly over the years that they support research and medical progress. Now, with the votes counted, I hope to see Congress assert its power of the purse and stop the Office of Management and Budget’s overreach. Ideally, the new Congress will work on a bipartisan basis to undo the damage already inflicted on our nation’s research ecosystem.
We will have some work to do to build new champions for research, but that is one of our jobs as a community.
Just before the election, our community achieved another major victory. Thanks to advocates coming together and submitting more than 3,000 comments, NSF has revised its proposed Guidance on Financial Assistance. The agency walked back its original proposal, removing policy changes that were aligned with OMB’s proposed rule. NSF also reaffirmed its commitment to merit-review processes for evaluating grant proposals.
What you do – and how you speak out – matters.
Russ
On the Hill: The current Congress has significant unfinished business, including a Dec. 11 deadline for addressing Fiscal Year 2027 appropriations. Two of the many reasons this deadline is significant: 1) unless action is taken before that deadline, our nation faces yet another government shutdown; and 2) the continuing resolution under which the federal government is now operating blocks OMB from implementing its proposed rule through Dec. 11.
While appropriators in both chambers would like to complete the funding process, the lame duck dynamics are complex. House Democratic and Republican leadership elections will take place over the next two weeks. Momentum in the House will depend heavily on the preferences of the newly empowered Democratic leadership and the incoming minority Republican leadership. Before, during, and after elections, silence is not golden.
Join us in pressing for the congressional action America needs. Use this action alert to urge your senators and representatives to finalize FY27 funding, stop OMB’s proposed rule, and fuel lifesaving medical research.
Day of Action, Post-election: Coming up on Tuesday, Nov. 10, is the national Day of Action, organized by the National Council of Nonprofits. Advocates across the country will contact their members of Congress and post on social media in opposition to OMB’s overreach.
Civic Science Virtual Information Sessions: We’re currently accepting applications for our Civic Science Microgrants and Awards Program. We will host two virtual information sessions to help answer any questions. The first session will be tomorrow, Nov. 6, at 2 p.m. ET, and the second session will be on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 11 a.m. ET. Register today!
Good Science Takes Time Infographic: One way to build greater trust in science is to provide context and information. Good Science Takes Time was created to help people make sense of health studies that quickly capture headlines and may go viral but may not be true. Available in English and Spanish, this simple infographic encourages people to ask important questions about new research before drawing conclusions. The Coalition for Trust in Health & Science developed this in partnership with the WVU Cancer Institute and Communicating for Health in Appalachia by Translating Science (CHATS).
Support Our Advocacy Work: Your support is critical to our advocacy efforts. Research!America is working every day to ensure our nation’s discovery, development, and innovation ecosystem not only survives, but thrives. Working together, we can make medical research and public health, as well as overall science and technology progress, a higher national priority. Donate now.