How Congress Can Restore the Independence of US Science

Thanks to legislation passed by the US Congress on 3 February, government spending on research and development unrelated to national defence is expected to decrease by 3–7% in the current fiscal year. This is much less than the 33% cut sought by President Donald Trump last year.

The news has brought relief to many US scientists. We welcome this development. But US science is a long way from being in good shape. Those of us with ties to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies are witnessing a fundamental shift in how federal science agencies are being governed. (One of us, M.H.H., runs an NIH research group but writes in a personal capacity, not for the agency; the other, N.B.A, studies NIH policymaking.)