Science Policy This Week: Oct 19, 2026

China committee proposes rewarding universities for strong research security

The House CCP Committee’s top member suggests prioritizing funding to universities with enhanced research security practices. “Universities that proactively strengthen their research security programs should have an opportunity to benefit from doing so rather than viewing enhanced safeguards solely as an additional compliance burden,” Chair John Moolenaar (R-MI) wrote in a report

last week that argues in favor of tighter security restrictions on federally funded research. The report also recommends that federal agencies suspend or debar universities that violate research security policies and fail to comply with award terms, without first requiring a conviction in court.

Moolenaar also used the report to promote his Securing Innovation and Research from Adversaries (SIRA) Act,

which would prohibit federal grantees from collaborating on their research with individuals with ties to a US government-restricted entity. Separately, Moolenaar also asked

the Department of Defense earlier this month to designate more than 100 additional Chinese institutions as national security risks.

DHS proposes changing prior status deference

Prior approval of a noncitizen’s employment visa won’t figure in extension requests, under a proposed US Department of Homeland Security rule.

The change would affect H-1B, L-1, and other work-related visas. Regulations now instead require immigration officials to defer to past approvals unless the facts of the past classification have changed. The policy move would shift the obligation to the petitioner to justify a visa extension.

“Overall, the deference regulation and policy risk undermining program integrity,” the agency says, by limiting the visa holder’s need to justify their extended status. More than 2 million petitions are eligible for this deference, according to DHS, about 30% of visas approved under I-129 petitions.

The proposal could lengthen waits and add costs for companies filing extension petitions, the Financial Express noted.

Comments on the rule are being accepted until Nov. 13.

The proposed change follows efforts to impose $100,000 fees for H-1B visas and other noncitizen employment programs

heavily used in technical fields. In September, a federal judge blocked

a DHS rule that would limit foreign students to a four-year stay in the US instead of the full duration of their education.

NIH considers hiding peer review scores

The National Institutes of Health is reviewing comments on its proposal

to largely replace peer reviewer scores on grant applications with three broad categories. Applicants and program officers would only see whether proposals are “most competitive” for the top 25%, “competitive” for the next 25%, or “not discussed.” The comment period was supposed to remain open until midnight last Tuesday, but the system apparently shut down

hours before that deadline, drawing complaints from scientists. NIH may publish a revised or finalized rule in the coming months. In posted comments, several scientific societies urged the agency to continue sharing peer reviewer scores with applicants and program officers. The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology said

the scores “let the agency show it funds the most meritorious science” and help researchers improve future applications. The Association of American Medical Colleges recommended

the agency add two more impact categories, for the top 5% and top 15% of proposals, to better distinguish top applications.

Also on our radar

• Senate Appropriations Democrats asked
  
  the Department of Education to “reverse” its forward-funding of grants, which they say has “dramatically reduced” the number of recipients. Researchers have similarly criticized forward-funding at science agencies such as NIH
  
  and NASA.
• Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee questioned
  
  Meta over a report
  
  that the software company claims billions of dollars in research tax breaks on its data centers.
• Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), House Science Committee’s top Democrat, accused
  
  the EPA of ignoring oversight requests related to staffing levels, the endangerment finding
  
  rescission, and delays to agency research products.
• NIH proposes
  
  creating a dedicated AI office to “establish clear organizational leadership for an emerging NIH-wide priority.”
• The UN body for assessing climate science discussed
  
  delaying its global assessment report, currently expected in 2028. The US announced
  
  its withdrawal from the group early this year.
• Eleven researchers issued an annual “state of the climate” report
  
  targeted at policymakers and the public.