Dear %%First Name%%,

Last week, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a proposal to alter the management of federal grants, stripping science’s protection from political intervention and nullifying the will of the American people.

This attempted power grab disregards what has made America the world’s R&D leader for generations by elevating the Director of OMB, the nation’s chief bureaucrat, to be the final arbiter of which science to fund. If this rule is implemented in its current form, the model that has spurred breakthroughs and trillion-dollar American industries would be irrevocably damaged. Read my full statement and an editorial from Science Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorp.

In the coming weeks, AAAS will employ every channel available to push back, including working behind the scenes to garner bipartisan support in Congress. I outlined actions you can take in an email I sent earlier this week, and they bear repeating:

• Let your representative in Congress know that this proposed rule is bad for science and your community—not just scientists. Tell them your concerns about putting political appointees who lack the necessary expertise in charge of science and research funding decisions and the potential impact on our hopes for future cures, national security, and American jobs.
• Submit a comment to OMB before the July 13 deadline. Comments do not need to be lengthy. We will provide additional analysis of the possible impacts of the rule in the coming days, along with best practices for submitting comments.
• Encourage your institutions to speak up in response.

Meanwhile, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been foundering in the absence of a director and a deputy director for over a year. To better understand nominee James O’Neill’s priorities for American science and this crucial agency, I sent a letter on May 20 to Chairman Bill Cassidy and Ranking Member Bernie Sanders, which was covered in The New York Times and the Chronicle of Higher Education, urging the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions to hold an open confirmation hearing.

We will continue to keep you apprised on important developments impacting American science, as well as what we’re doing and, more importantly, what you can do to make a difference. Watch your inbox and bookmark our Speaking Up for Science webpage.

To help inspire you in these times, I encourage you to listen to a new podcast series by Science magazine. Centered around striking science biographies, it invites listeners to ask themselves: How do I wish to be remembered? What did we do in our time of trial? Important questions for us all.

Sudip S. Parikh, Ph.D. 
Chief Executive Officer, AAAS  
Executive Publisher, Science Journals