Party Leaders Agree to Launch Budget Talks
BU IN DC
Alan Marscher and Svetlana Jorstad of the College of Arts & Sciences attended the National Science Foundation’s press conference announcing the first results from the Event Horizon Telescope project on April 10.
Garland Waller of the College of Communication screened a documentary film about her father at the BU Study Abroad Washington office on April 11.
Global Development Policy Center Director Kevin Gallagher hosted a panel discussion on multilateralism for shared prosperity with United Nations General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley on April 12.
Joshua Shifrinson of the Pardee School of Global Studies spoke at a Center for a New American Security forum on grand strategies on April 12.
Correction: Last week’s edition incorrectly stated who attended the National Discussion on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at America’s Colleges, Universities and Service Academies at the U.S. Naval Academy. Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs Julie Sandell attended the event.
PARTY LEADERS AGREE TO LAUNCH BUDGET TALKS
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced on Tuesday that he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) would begin negotiations on lifting the budget spending caps currently in place for fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Reaching a deal will be difficult, as both leaders must contend with opposing views within their own parties. Such divisions were on display this week when the Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives was forced to cancel a vote on a bill to lift the spending caps. The spending levels in the Democrats’ bill were deemed wasteful by conservatives, but inadequate by liberals. Research and student aid advocates have urged lawmakers to raise the caps in order to prevent significant cuts to science and students.
BUZZ BITS…
- Secretary Betsy DeVos appeared before the House Education and Labor Committee to discuss the U.S. Department of Education’s policies and priorities on April 10. Members of Congress questioned her about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and affirmative action, among other issues.
- Also on April 10, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee discussed accountability and transparency measures in higher education as part of its effort to renew the Higher Education Act. Witnesses decried poor-quality colleges and explained that accountability measures protect taxpayer funds.
- National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins testified before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the Administration’s fiscal year 2020 budget request on April 11.
GRANTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
The National Science Foundation is requesting proposals to develop Models for Uncovering Rules and Unexpected Phenomena in Biological Systems (MODULUS), which encourages interdisciplinary collaboration between the mathematical and biological sciences. The agency is seeking high-risk, high-reward research that will “address clearly stated biological questions or hypotheses, make a case for and develop innovative mathematical methods or integrate disparate mathematical fields, and articulate a well-defined plan for the mathematics to drive biological discovery within the funded period.”
A Note to Our Readers: Due to the Congressional District Work Period, Beltway BUzz is taking a break from publishing. We will return on May 3.