Biophysical Society Bulletin | March 2019

Public Affairs

ProlongedWashington Shutdown Hits Science Scientists and the American public have been feeling the effects of the longest (partial) shutdown in Washington’s history. While roughly two-thirds of the government received its funding on-time, a partial shutdown occurred on

Before his appointment, Droegemeier served as the Vice President for Research at the University of Oklahoma and as a Cabinet Secretary of Science and Technology in the Oklahoma state government. He also previously served on the National Science Board under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and is a meteorologist by training. Droegemeier started in his White House role in January. The NSF funded over $118 million in research grants from December 2017 to January 2018, but due to the shutdown, no grants have been funded in 2019. Even families or school trips attempting to visit a National Park or a Smithsonian museum were, in most cases, unable to during the shutdown. According to a January 28, 2019, report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), government spending was reduced by $3 billion and economic growth was hurt during the shutdown. As a result, analysts believe U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may be reduced by as much as 0.2% in the first quarter of 2019. While the end of the shutdown comes as a relief, Congress and the White House have a limited window to reach a deal to prevent another lapse in government funding. The Biophysical Society advocated for a speedy end to the government shutdown.

Kelvin Droegemeier Assumes Role as Director of OSTP Of the 800,000 federal employees who were furloughed or forced to work without pay, thousands were researchers. Internal scientific work was all but halted at the Agriculture Department, the National Institute of Standards and Technol- ogy (NIST), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion (NOAA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The damage was not limited to intramural researchers, as extra- mural researchers felt the pain as well. December 20, 2018, when congressional leaders and the White House failed to fund the remaining one-third due to disagreements over funding for a proposed US-Mexico border wall. The partial shutdown became the longest in American history on January 12, 2019, as it surpassed the previous 21-day record set in 1995.

In one of the last acts of the 115th Congress, the Senate confirmed Kelvin Droegemeier as the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technol- ogy Policy. In his Senate confirmation hearing in August 2018, Droegemeier described himself as an educator, public policy professional, and a storm chas- er. If confirmed, Droegemeier pledged that he would focus on improving our STEM education pipeline, encouraging

Ambassador Program

Kelvin Droegemeier

stronger private–public partnerships, and ensuring promising discoveries and technologies are effectively transferred to the private sector. He will now have a chance to fulfill his pledge to the Senate.

Empowering Biophysics Globally Learn more at www.biophysics.org/ambassador

March 2019

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