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On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law two packages of appropriations legislation to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2020, which began on October 1, 2019. Congress rejected the Trump Administration’s budget proposal to slash federal funding for scientific research. Instead, the legislation included additional resources federal research programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), the Medical and Prosthetic Research Program at the VA, and NASA.

NIH

The NIH budget was increased by $2.6 billion (7%) in FY 2020, for a total budget of $41.7 billion. This was the fifth year in a row that NIH received an increase of at least $2 billion over the previous year. The total budget includes $492 million to fund programs initiated under the 21st Century Cures Act. Each institute and center will receive an increase of at least 3.3% over FY 2019.

The explanatory report accompanying the funding bill directed NIH to submit quarterly reports updating the status of investigations into foreign threats to US research infrastructure. The report also encouraged the NIH to improve the security of US intellectual property, specifically by improving the security of peer review and systems for identifying investigators who receive foreign funding. With respect to efforts to combat sexual harassment in the sciences, the report directed the NIH to require institutions to notify the agency when key personnel changes are made due to sexual harassment, and called on the agency to implement measures that address harassment with the same level of attention given to research misconduct.

NSF

NSF’s budget was increased by $203 million (2.5%) for a total budget of $8.28 billion. The research and related activities account, which includes the Biological Sciences Directorate, was increased by 3.4%. Of note is a directive given to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to “incorporate and apply” the findings of a recent JASON study on foreign threats to US research. That study called for protecting the merit review system while helping institutions achieve an appropriate balance between security and openness in research.

VA

The VA budget for Medical and Prosthetic Research was increased by $21 million (2.7%), for a total budget of $800 million. The accompanying report outlined a number of priorities including longitudinal research on brain conditions. The report also called for the Secretary of the VA to ensure adequate funding for research to help veterans who have experienced toxic exposures and for prosthetic research specifically for female veterans.

NASA

The overall NASA budget was increased by $1.1 billion (5.3%), for a total budget of $22.6 billion. Within the NASA budget, the Exploration Technology budget was increased by 18.7%, but funding for the Human Research Program to support safe and productive human space travel will hold steady at $140 million.