AI Czar; Defense Bill; Hazing
BU IN DC
Associate Provost for Computing & Data Sciences Azer Bestavros attended the fall meeting of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Advisory Committee for the National Science Foundation on December 11th and 12th. He is a member of the Committee.
TRANSITION UPDATES: TRUMP PICKS AI CZAR; NEW HOUSE SCIENCE AND EDUCATION LEADERS NAMED
President-elect Donald J. Trump announced last week that venture capitalist David Sacks will serve as his artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency “czar,” in addition to leading the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST). PCAST is a federal advisory committee that provides scientific advice to the President. It is typically comprised of scientists from universities, nonprofits, and the private sector. Sacks is the cofounder of PayPal and a current investor in several Silicon Valley companies; he earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.
This week, Congressional Republicans chose next year’s chairmen for the science and education committees in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- Representative Tim Walberg (R-MI) will lead the House Education and the Workforce Committee. His higher education interests include career and technical education and prohibiting religious discrimination on campus.
- Representative Brian Babin (R-TX) will lead the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Babin previously chaired the Committee’s space subcommittee and is an advocate for NASA’s Johnson Space Center, which is located in his Congressional district.
CONGRESS POISED TO SEND DEFENSE POLICY BILL TO THE PRESIDENT
The U.S. Senate is expected to approve the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 next week, after which it will be sent to the President for signature. This year’s annual defense policy bill directs the Department of Defense to create a roadmap for future investments in biotechnology research and establishes a quantum scaling initiative at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Proposals to restrict grantees’ research collaborations with certain countries and to deny defense research funds to colleges found in violation of specific civil rights laws were both removed from the final bill. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the measure on Wednesday and President Joe Biden is expected to sign it before the end of the year.
BUZZ BITS…
- The U.S. Senate passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act on Wednesday, sending the bill to the President. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the measure, which will require colleges to post a public report on hazing incidents on their website and to develop a statement on hazing policy and prevention.
- This week, President Joe Biden signed the FAFSA Deadline Act into law. The law requires the U.S. Department of Education to make the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) available on October 1st, allowing students to apply for federal aid in the fall. While the form is typically released before October 1st, the law previously permitted the Department to release the form as late as January 1st.
- Congress is expected to send a continuing resolution (CR) to the President next week to keep the federal government operating at its current funding level through March 2025, giving lawmakers more time to finalize the annual spending bills which determine federal agency budgets. Federal agencies are currently operating under a CR which will expire on December 20th.
A NOTE TO OUR READERS
With Intersession around the corner, Beltway BUzz will pause publication until 2025. In the meantime, we encourage you to check our website and follow us on LinkedIn for updates. We wish you a joyous holiday season!