US agencies are preparing for the possibility of a fresh government shutdown that could restart on 15 February if President Donald Trump and a bipartisan Congressional panel fail to agree on plans for security at the US-Mexico border. While science-related agencies are assessing the impact of the recent partial government shutdown, which lasted 35 days and ended on 25 January, they are also working to keep facilities open should another shutdown hit later next week.
At a press briefing on 1 February, officials at the National Science Foundation (NSF) outlined that the roughly 1400 NSF employees who had been laid-off or had worked for nothing during the shutdown have already received their back pay. The NSF also noted that on the very first day after the shutdown, it set out to deliver $220m in grants promised to individual scientists and research teams. During “normal times”, the NSF typically receives requests for just $20m every day.
Losing a month really hurts, especially for people who are working on things that are time-sensitive or who are just getting started
Albert Presto
Yet reorganizing and rescheduling the 111 panels that review and fund research proposals will take longer. “It’s a pretty complex juggling act,” says Erwin Gianchandani, the NSF’s assistant director for computer and information science and engineering. “I expect it’s going to take us several weeks and probably a couple of months to have all the panels that were scheduled during the lapsed period completed this spring.”
However, NSF executives are now meeting every day to plan for a possible further government shutdown. “We’ll be working to obligate sufficient funds out to our facilities so they can continue to operate even in the unfortunate event of another lapse,” says James Ulvestad, NSF chief officer for research facilities.
Reduced data collecting
The Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, is updating its database on enforcement actions, which had no inputs during the shutdown. As for NASA, it has been hit with delays to several missions, including IceBridge — a project started in 2009 that uses aircraft to measure ice loss at the Earth’s poles. Delays in maintaining the aircraft during the shutdown have already prevented a programme of Arctic flights from starting on 4 March as planned, which will reduce the amount of data collected.
Similarly, a research cruise in the Atlantic Ocean as part of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study of oceanic acidity has been delayed owing to lack of preparation during the shutdown. That will leave a gap in the data used in weather forecasting.
For many recipients, however, a shutdown can mean more than just an intermission. “Losing a month really hurts, especially for people who are working on things that are time-sensitive or who are just getting started,” notes climate scientist Albert Presto from Carnegie Mellon University, who studies air quality. “It’s hard to quantify in terms of dollars how much the shutdown cost scientists in lost time.”
Government shutdown begins to bite US science
Perhaps the longest-lasting impact of the shutdown, however, concerns morale. Scientists and engineers in government have said privately that they are polishing their CVs in the hope of job offers from the private sector. They also fear that the shutdown will have reduced the appeal of government service for potential recruits.
