War on Science: Split Decision

So we previously noted Congress’s embrace of science despite the clear dislike of it in this administration. An article in The Atlantic points to this (with greater details than GG had noted). So Congress is defying Trump because they like science?

Well, maybe, sort of. As The Atlantic article notes, over the years science funding has often been higher in years where the GOP was ascendent than the Democrats. So it isn’t like hatred of science as a whole has driven the GOP for a long time [though they have often fretted about certain lines of inquiry]; GG had in fact noticed this over the years (long ago, part of the attribution was that science funding was in the same spending bill as health and human services, which was a Democratic priority, so money in that spending bill would slosh a little between the different interests). So is this year’s budget then showing resilience with respect to science while other endeavors are flattened?

Er, no. In fact, Congress has largely ignored the massive cuts proposed by this administration across the board. Yes, NIH’s proposed 39% cut was whittled down to something under 1%, but then Housing and Urban Development’s 44% cut became a 9% increase. Well, you say, but there were lots of special phrases put in the science bills to prevent the administration from not spending the money, from monthly reports to demanding professionals be hired in certain places. And yes, this is true…but it is also true of language found in most of the spending bills that have been signed.

Was science specially favored by Congressional Republicans? Not really. It has been a combination of Congress wanting to preserve their power of the purse and the usual log rolling of everybody’s local interest getting included in a bill so it can pass. And this only went so far: language to prevent pocket recissions was stripped out of bills, and the OIB director continues to argue that Congressional authorizations represent the maximum that can be spent, not the target to be met. Unless the courts finally intervene, his opinion might dictate how money is spent.

What is more, this is hardly a surprise. Presidential budget requests have often landed with a thud in Congress and then are swiftly set aside. The key is not that Congress has continued the budgeting it had been doing all along, it will be whether the administration continues to ignore that guidance. And frankly, a monthly review of spending is probably a non-event for reporters covering DC, so if the administration continues to slow-walk funding, it will probably fall under the radar.

While it is certainly nice that Congress does not share the administration’s eagerness to gut science and lead with whatabout-ism, it is not like science of 2024 is coming back anytime soon. Let’s see the money get spent, and with what strings, before celebrating.