Government: Earlier this month, the US government passed a deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, approving the increase of both defense and non-defense spending caps for the next two years. The caps would be boosted by $143 billion in fiscal 2018, up 12.9%, totaling to a 2018 spending cap of $1.20 trillion. The caps would also be raised by $153 billion in fiscal 2019, resulting in the new 2019 spending caps of $1.24 trillion, a 3.3% increase. By law, the caps will remain in place until 2021, so a new deal will likely be required for 2020 and 2021.

Although the Democratic party proposed that defense and non-defense spending receive equal boosts, defense spending remains approximately $34 billion more than non-defense expenditures. Despite this, the increase of spending caps is the largest in the US since 2011. and may prove to be beneficial for science. Science programs have had mixed funding numbers over the past year, but that was partially due to the government working with limiting spending caps. With the rise in caps, major science agencies such as the NIH will very likely receive greater funding based on historic practice.

Unresolved issues, however, include the fate of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, which Congress has proposed to eliminate, as well as how funding will be allocated amongst NSF disciplines. Also, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate research program was slated to receive deep cuts, as was the Fusion Energy Science program within the DOE, leaving these funding issues in need of resolution.

The US Congress now has until March 23, the end date for the Bipartisan Budget Act, to draft final appropriations reports for individual federal organizations, including science agencies.

Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science