November 1, 2013As Congress resumed negotiations on the federal budget this week, higher education advocates are once again pressing lawmakers to end automatic spending cuts, which they’ve said are devastating to scientific research.
Representatives from both chambers and political parties gathered on Wednesday for the first formal budget talks since Congress reached an agreement earlier this month to reopen the government after a 16-day shutdown and to temporarily raise the nation’s borrowing authority.
One of the biggest sticking points in the negotiations is over what to do with the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts, known as sequestration. Earlier this year, those cuts reduced federal spending on research by more than $1 billion. With fewer research grants available, universities have had to scale back research activities and in some cases lay off researchers and close laboratories.