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News and updates

News and updates

Jim O鈥橬eill nominated as NSF director

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President Trump has nominated Jim O鈥橬eill to serve as Director of the National Science Foundation. His name was among a of nominations sent to the Senate yesterday morning. O鈥橬eill was removed from his position as deputy secretary of HHS last month as part of a broader restructuring, which also saw Jay Bhattacharya named acting CDC director. The NSF has been without a permanent leader since last April, when director Sethuraman Panchanathan resigned as the Trump administration cut hundreds of research grants and proposed massive budget cuts.

O鈥橬eill served as a senior HHS official during the George W. Bush administration, before moving to the private sector, where he worked closer with Peter Thiel. He was the managing director at Thiel鈥檚 Mithril Capital Management and also served as CEO of the Thiel Foundation, before joining the second Trump administration as deputy HHS secretary. If confirmed by the Senate, O鈥橬eill would be the first non-scientist to lead the NSF.

Senate HELP committee to vote on key bills

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听On Thursday, February 26, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will vote on several significant bills regarding access to quality education and health care.

The bills under consideration include:

  • S. 1602, Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act
  • S. 1558, Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2025
  • S. 3747, Home School Graduation Recognition Act
  • S. 1782, Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act
  • S. 1552, Living Donor Protection Act of 2025
  • S. 3315, Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act of 2025

Date:听Thursday, February 26, 2026

Time:听10:00 AM ET/ 9:00 AM CT

Location:听430 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Jay Bhattacharya named acting CDC director

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Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the head of the NIH, is set to become acting director of the CDC, according to administration officials. He will continue to run the NIH, serving both positions until President Trump appoints a permanent CDC director that gets confirmed by the Senate.

Bhattacharya will replace Jim O鈥橬eill, who was removed last week by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as part of a broader restructuring. White House officials said President Trump will name O鈥橬eill to lead the National Science Foundation.

O鈥橬eill was confirmed by the Senate last June as deputy secretary of HHS and had been leading the CDC temporarily after the ousting of Susan Monarez in August following her disagreements with Secretary Kennedy over vaccine recommendations. O鈥橬eill led the CDC through its most controversial changes to vaccine policy, including removing meningitis, flu, hepatitis A, and rotavirus from the list of routinely recommended vaccines.

The restructuring also promotes Chris Klomp, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to chief counselor overseeing all HHS operations.

The leadership shake-up comes as administration officials look to focus on President Trump鈥檚 health policy moves, particularly his push to lower drug prices, ahead of the midterm elections.

Senate fails to advance DHS funding

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A failed Senate vote Thursday has set the stage for shutting down the Department of Homeland Security beginning at midnight tonight. Republicans tried to advance the same bill that the House approved last month, which would fund DHS through September. As expected, the proposal, which did not add any new curbs on immigration enforcement that Democrats have been pushing for, failed to draw the 60 votes necessary. The vote was 52 to 47, with Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) as the only Democratic senator to vote in favor.

The vote comes after a week of intense hearings, including a Thursday oversight hearing by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, where Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) asked three top DHS officials to watch a frame-by-frame video of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti. The three witnesses鈥擨CE acting Director Todd Lyons, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott and director of USCIS Joseph Edlow鈥攁lso testified before the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday. The Senate committee also grilled a panel of Minnesota officials, including Attorney General Keith Ellison, Rep. Tom Emmer, state Rep. Harry Niska and Paul Schnell, the commissioner of Minnesota鈥檚 Department of Corrections.

Republicans had hoped that Democrats would be swayed by Thursday鈥檚 announcement by Tom Homan, border czar, that the Trump administration would pull immigration agents out of Minnesota. But Senate Democrats have remained firm that they will not support even a temporary funding measure without new guardrails. The House and Senate are both headed into a weeklong recess, meaning a funding lapse for DHS will begin Saturday morning, the third time in five months that parts of the government have been shut down. The shutdown will affect FEMA, CISA, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and TSA. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson said negotiations would continue and that members of Congress should be prepared to quickly return.

Energy Department Launches Genesis Mission Consortium

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Yesterday, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced the launch of the Genesis Mission Consortium, a historic public-private partnership advancing the Department鈥檚听听to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in accelerating scientific discovery.

Building on President Trump鈥檚 Executive Orders 听and听, the consortium brings together technical capabilities and expertise from the private sector, academic institutions, and mission teams at the DOE and the 17 National Laboratories.

As described in the launch announcement, 鈥渢he consortium will help identify high-value partnerships among its members and external stakeholders, strengthening collaborative responses to funding opportunities. It will amplify DOE鈥檚 outreach by promoting solicitations, executing agreements, and tracking project successes. Functioning as a collaborative hub, the consortium will serve as a single, coordinated access point for members and their resources.鈥�

For more information on the Genesis Mission Consortium, visit .

 

February 12 Update:

The DOE built upon the Genesis Mission launch by announcing 26 science and technology challenges. 鈥淭hese challenges represent a bold step toward a future where science moves at the speed of imagination because of AI. It鈥檚 a game-changer for science, energy, and national security,鈥� said听DOE Under Secretary for Science and听Genesis听Mission听Lead Dr. Dar铆o Gil. 鈥淏y uniting the U.S. Government鈥檚 unparalleled data resources and DOE鈥檚 experimental facilities with cutting-edge AI, we can unlock discoveries that will power the economy, secure our energy future, and keep America at the forefront of global innovation.鈥� For the full list of challenges, visit听.