People enter an early voting location for the US mid-term elections in Stafford, Virginia. Credit: Samuel Corum/Getty
The voters of the United States are heading to the polls tomorrow to choose their representatives for Congress, and the results could have consequences for the scientific agenda established by President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party. With recent votes favoring Republicans to take control of the House of Representatives and perhaps the Senate, researchers anticipate reductions in science funding, a renewed focus on research safety and heightened congressional scrutiny of science programs being launched by the Biden administration.
Did Biden follow the science? What the researchers say
Did Biden follow the science? What the researchers say
Historically, it is not unusual for the party holding the White House to lose seats during the midterm elections, two years after a president takes office. But the stakes are especially high this time, as the country grapples with rising inflation and an energy crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. Some fear that democracy itself is also on the line, as former President Donald Trump and many of the candidates he endorsed at the state and national level continue to question — without any evidence — the results of the 2020 election. that puts Biden in office. . Already, some Republicans are threatening to impeach Biden if his party takes power.
Although it might not be at the top of the list of hot issues, science has a role in the election, says David Cole, president of the Institute for the History of Science in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “Maintaining the conversation around the importance of science as a truth-making enterprise goes hand in hand with the support of democracy and truth in elections,” he adds.
Here, Nature examines what’s at stake for science on November 8.
Congressional inquiry
Control of the US Congress comes with substantial oversight power, and many scientists expect to see enhanced scrutiny of science programs and leaders if Republicans win the House or Senate. On the same subject : Gravitational wave radar can probe deep space for tiny stellar objects.
House Republicans have already called for an investigation of a climate official in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Jane Lubchenco. She was sanctioned in August by the US National Academy of Sciences for violating the rules of scientific integrity (she edited a paper published in the journal of the academy in 2020 that was written by a family member ). Observers who spoke to Nature say this could be just the beginning if Republicans take over.
Some Republicans have vowed to investigate Biden’s chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, if they win control of Congress. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty
With the levers of Congress under their control, Republicans will challenge the Biden administration on controversial policies and probe any mistakes, says Michael Lubell, a physicist at the City College of New York who tracks federal issues of political science. Many Republicans are angry about the Democrats’ investigation into the January 6 storming of the US Capitol, as well as what they consider undue interference in the Trump administration, he says. “And there’s no doubt there will be payback.” Researchers say this means agency heads could be called before Congress on any number of issues, ranging from the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic to the management of the administration. of new funds for clean energy programs.
One US agency that could be particularly affected is the historically bipartisan National Institutes of Health (NIH), says Allen Segal, who is the head of advocacy for the American Society for Microbiology in Washington DC. House Republicans have already signaled that they plan to investigate the NIH’s oversight of the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, to which the biomedical agency had given funds before the pandemic to study the coronavirus. Some congressional Republicans have consistently speculated that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus could have been released by the virology lab, and they are skeptical that the NIH properly verified and monitored any risky research that the lab was conducting. Many virologists and evolutionary biologists dispute this theory, citing a lack of direct evidence.
The billion-dollar US health agency is getting a new leader — but its direction remains in limbo
The billion-dollar US health agency is getting a new leader — but its direction remains in limbo
“Going back 25 years, there has never been a question of bipartisan support for NIH,” says Segal. But a heightened political environment as a result of the pandemic and the spread of misinformation have raised questions about NIH’s activities like never before — and could end up eroding that bipartisan environment, he says. Republicans have also vowed to investigate Anthony Fauci, who announced he will retire later this year as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in connection with the origins of COVID-19 and the response pandemic of the country.
Closer scrutiny could also be troublesome for the nascent Advanced Research Projects Agency for Healthcare (ARPA-H), an organization launched by the Biden administration in March that will fund high-risk, high-reward biomedical research. Congress has not yet passed a bill that explicitly authorizes the creation of ARPA-H. Politicians continue to disagree over where the agency’s offices should be located and how independent it should be from the NIH, under which it is currently housed. If the Republicans take over, “there is some concern that we will not see the potential of ARPA-H come to fruition,” says Peter Jensen, an immunologist who heads the public affairs committee of the American Association of Immunologists in Rockville, Maryland.
Tightening the purse strings
Science usually draws bipartisan support in Congress. But “Republicans tend to be in favor of greater defense spending,” says Matt Hourihan, associate director for research and development and advanced industry at the Federation of American Scientists, a defense organization in Washington DC. Read also : Jackson’s weekly housing renovation. This means that non-defense funding, from which science agencies get their money, could suffer. In particular, agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF) could have a harder time securing budget increases under a Republican-controlled Congress, Hourihan says.
Trump held rallies for Republican candidates in preparation for the midterm elections. Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty
Trump held rallies for Republican candidates in preparation for the midterm elections. Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty
This could be a challenge for the CHIPS and Science Act, which authorized $280 billion for science and technology programs in several federal agencies, including what would be a historic boost in funds for the NSF. Although Congress passed the legislation in July, Republican leadership in the House had urged opposition.
Allocating funds through the ongoing annual appropriations process could become more difficult if Republicans gain control of the House, says Deborah Altenburg, who serves as associate vice president for research and policy. government affairs in the Association of Public and Land-Grant. University in Washington DC. “We have to really push to get funding for the scientific part of CHIPS and the Science Act.”
To make matters even more difficult, several veteran members of Congress who usually influence appropriations, and who have supported federal support for biomedical research, are retiring this year, says Jennifer Zeitzer, who heads the office of the public affairs at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology in Rockville. The loss of all institutional knowledge at once will make the next Congress’s support for science more unpredictable, he says.
Research security
Earlier this year, the Biden administration formally shut down a Justice Department program known as the China Initiative, which it launched in 2018 under the Trump administration to counter the Chinese government’s efforts to steal the secrets from American companies and laboratories. Read also : Live poster session returns today on Biomedical Science Research Day. Concerns about the safety of the research remain high on both sides of the political aisle, but the Justice Department ended the program in part because of the perception that the initiative unfairly discriminated against scientists of Chinese heritage. .
The controversial China Initiative is over – researchers are relieved
The controversial China Initiative is over – researchers are relieved
Some Republicans are already pushing legislation to restore the program. If both houses of Congress become controlled by Republicans, such legislation could gain momentum — but it would be difficult to fully reverse the initiative as long as Biden is in charge, observers say.
Meanwhile, concerns about Chinese espionage, national security and economic competitiveness have created new space for bipartisanship between Democrats and Republicans. For example, 24 House Republicans rejected the party leadership’s call to support the CHIPS and Science Act, arguing that the legislation could reduce trust in China by favoring domestic semiconductor production.
Similar political forces are at play in the climate and energy arenas. Although Republicans have strongly opposed legislation to curb greenhouse gas emissions, many have supported major investments in clean energy sought by the Biden administration and Democrats. The result is that more than half a trillion dollars in clean energy investments have been shut down with the passage of a couple of major bills in the past year.
“There’s a pretty solid front against China and Russia, and it’s also tied to economic development goals,” says David Hart, who tracks energy issues at the Information and Innovation Foundation in Washington DC. That was a strong unifying factor in this last Congress, Hart says, and is likely to continue in the next, regardless of how the election plays out.
