Washington on Pause: Funding, Fallout, and What’s Next

By Elizabeth Stulberg, Lewis-Burke Associates At the beginning of the new fiscal year, Wednesday, October 1, with no new funding bills or continuing resolution passed by Congress, many agencies within the federal government suspended their services. This is known as a government shutdown. It will end when Congress passes funding bills that reopen the currently-shuttered … Read more

Policy Update: Research Impacts of Recent Executive Orders and Memos – and a Call to Action to the ASPB Community

Since President Donald Trump took office on January 2025, a series of executive actions have shaken the research community. Several executive orders were released that targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and climate initiatives and that direct agencies to generate lists of existing grants supporting these activities. Furthermore, on January 27, the Office of Management … Read more

Policy Update: Federal Judge Vacates USDA Rule Regulating Biotech Crops

On December 2, 2024, the United States District Court of the Northern District of California vacated the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) SECURE Rule, which was finalized in 2020 as an update that enabled the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to provide regulatory guidance for gene-edited crops. The SECURE Rule was adopted after … Read more

DOE Announces Funding Opportunity for Genomics-Enabled Understanding and Advancing Knowledge on Plant Gene Function(s)

The federal government has many opportunities for researchers, including not only funding calls but also opportunities to provide feedback, such as requests for information (RFIs). With so many potential ways to engage, it is easy to miss something important, such as a well-aligned funding opportunity from an unexpected agency or a request for comment that … Read more

Science Policy Update: EPA Releases Final Herbicide Strategy

By Elizabeth Stulberg, PhD, and Victoria Swiler, Lewis-Burke Associates LLC The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a final Herbicide Strategy on August 20, a move that it anticipates will protect more than 900 federally endangered and threatened (“listed”) species from the potential impacts of herbicides. Since the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973, … Read more