New Congress will feature fresh science voices

The new, Democratic-led House of Representatives that will convene in January will include over a half dozen new members who have scientific or technical backgrounds. The House can be expected to raise the level of discussion on climate change. But federal discretionary spending limits, which are due to decline steeply from this year’s record levels, will continue to loom over R&D budgets of federal science-funding agencies.

Newly elected Democratic members include Elaine Luria, a former Navy nuclear engineer, in Virginia; Chrissy Houlahan, who has degrees in engineering and technology policy, in Pennsylvania; Sean Casten, a clean energy entrepreneur with a master’s degree in biochemical engineering, in Illinois; and Lauren Underwood, a registered nurse and former senior adviser on bioterrorism and public health issues at the Department of Health and Human Services, also in Illinois. Joe Cunningham, who worked as an ocean engineer, won a seat in South Carolina; Jeff Van Drew, a dentist, was chosen in New Jersey; and Kim Schrier, a pediatrician, was elected to an open seat in Washington.

Rush Holt, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, applauded the new members, noting that “as long as most nonscientists in our country and their elected representatives believe they cannot understand science, we will need actual scientists present at the policy table.”

Jerry McNerney (D-CA) and physicist Bill Foster (D-IL), who held on to their House seats, remain the only STEM PhDs in Congress.

Meanwhile in the Senate, incumbent Bill Nelson (D-FL), who was supportive of science and NASA in particular, is trailing in a race that may go to a recount. Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen, a former computer programmer, beat out the incumbent Dean Heller (R) in Nevada. Little change in science priorities is expected in the upper chamber, where Republicans increased their majority by several seats.

The Democratic takeover of the House will turn over gavels at key committees, notably Appropriations, which Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) is expected to chair. Lowey faces a challenge as a bipartisan budget agreement that added $165 billion to the nondefense discretionary budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, leading to a windfall for science agencies, comes to an end.

Lowey has been a champion of the National Institutes of Health. Holt, a physicist and former House Democrat, says he expects her to be “evenhanded” in her treatment of all parts of the discretionary budget, which wouldn’t necessarily favor science. “There are precious few real friends of science on Appropriations,” he says. As chair, Lowey will succeed Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), a supporter of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, particularly its fusion program.

Notable GOP losses include Texas Rep. John Culberson, a strong advocate for NASA who chaired the Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science, and related agencies. Recently he has been Congress’s main advocate of robotic flyby and lander missions to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa . California’s Dana Rohrabacher, who has been a member of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee since joining Congress in 1989, was projected to lose his seat. And Underwood unseats Republican Randy Hultgren, who chaired the House R&D Caucus and was a strong supporter of Department of Energy labs.

Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) is expected to become chair of the Science Committee, a post previously held by the retiring Lamar Smith (R-TX). Smith has been an unabashed climate change denier and an outspoken supporter of the Trump administration’s efforts to deemphasize science at the Environmental Protection Agency. Johnson pledged in a statement to address climate change, “starting with acknowledging it is real,” and to “restore the credibility of the Science Committee as a place where science is respected and recognized as a crucial input to good policymaking.” Her other priorities include STEM education, engaging underrepresented minorities and blue-collar workers in STEM fields, supporting a robust federal R&D program, and defending science from political and ideological attacks.

Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), who cofounded the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus and introduced a carbon tax bill in July, was defeated in his bid for reelection, as were 12 other GOP climate caucus members. Three Democratic members of the caucus also lost their seats. The caucus, which was widely viewed as ineffectual, will need to recruit 10 new GOP members to maintain equal representation from both parties. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who is expected to become House Speaker in January, has said she will revive a special committee on climate change that had been dissolved in 2011. That panel, however, will have no legislative powers.

Also on Tuesday, voters in Washington State defeated a ballot initiative that would have imposed a tax on carbon emissions, and Arizona resoundingly rejected a requirement that half the state’s electricity come from renewable sources. A 50% renewable mandate passed in Nevada, but it must be approved by voters again in 2020 to become law.