Spending deal comes with a bonus: Blocking political control of grants
摘要
美国众议院近日通过一项临时支出法案，将联邦政府资金支持延续至12月初。该法案预计将获总统签署，以避免中期选举前政府停摆。法案包含一项重要条款：禁止行政管理和预算局实施新规，该新规原将允许政治任命官员全面控制科研资助方向并随时取消任何拨款。此举被视为科学界的胜利，相关规则此前遭广泛反对，被认为对科研事业具有灾难性影响。
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a stopgap measure that would continue funding the US government through early December. While the measure still requires the signature of President Trump, it's widely expected that he will act to avoid a government shutdown immediately before the midterm elections.
This is a normal part of how the US government has operated in recent years, as it's often difficult to build the political support needed to pass a full year's budget in advance. In fact, dissent within the House's Republican caucus prevented them from agreeing on their own measure to keep the government open; instead, the House simply adopted a version of the spending bill that had previously passed the Senate.
From the perspective of scientists and their supporters, that adoption turned out to be a very good thing. Because the Senate's budget bill, passed in early August, contains a provision that blocks the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from implementing new rules that would give political appointees full control over what science is funded and allow them to cancel any grant at any time. The proposed rule has been widely decried as catastrophic for science, and it faced widespread opposition from scientific and health-focused organizations.
转载信息
评论 (0)
暂无评论，来留下第一条评论吧