Overview
- OSTP released a 123-page report called Science: A New Golden Age that sets federal research priorities and includes a memorandum co-signed by OSTP director Michael Kratsios and OMB director Russell Vought.
- The annex requires federal agencies with annual research budgets of at least $3 billion to report within 90 days how they will reallocate funding to the named priority fields.
- Scientists and policy groups criticized the plan for not naming the experts or advisory bodies consulted and for omitting areas such as climate science, public health and the social sciences.
- The report calls for shifting funding away from traditional university grants toward industry, non-profits and faster award mechanisms, and critics say this risks eroding peer review and basic research support.
- The document positions itself as a successor to Vannevar Bush’s 1945 report but departs from that consultative model, so agency responses to the 90-day deadline will determine whether federal support for basic science is sustained or reshaped.