A Setback for Science Funding

A measure to renew the America COMPETES Act — which "set Congress on a path to double the budgets of the National Science Foundation and other federal physical sciences agencies" — was returned to the House of Representatives science committee amid concerns that "that the bill would create too many new programs and authorize far too much federal spending," according to Inside Higher Ed. Science Insider reports that part of the reason a "bipartisan majority voted for a three-year freeze on the budgets for those agencies" is because of "the growing unease among lawmakers in supporting a bill calling for increases in federal spending when this year's federal deficit is expected to exceed $1 trillion." Representative Bart Gordon (D-TN) called the bill "too important to die," and said that he "would like to see it brought up again, but timing is unclear," according to Science.