Buying Science Wholesale:
Dynamics of the Federal R&D Budget
Michael Holland
Chief of Staff
Center for Urban Science & Progress
New York University
September 25, 2013
The Fiscal 2014 budget
INCOME: $3 Trillion
SPENDING: $3.6 Trillion
Total R&D by Agency, FY 2014
budget authority in billions of dollars
Commerce, $2.7
All Other, $6.7
USDA, $2.5
NSF, $6.3
Total R&D =
$144.1 billion
Defense: -5.5%
Nondefense: +9.2%
NASA, $11.6
DOE, $12.7
HHS (NIH), $32.0
Source: OMB R&D data, agency budget justifications, and other agency documents.
R&D includes conduct of R&D and R&D facilities.
© 2013 AAAS
DOD, $69.5
The Budget Process
“Budget Season”: September – January
Department of Energy
The White House
(1) Budget Request
(2) Passback
Fossil
OMB
NNSA
Energy
Target
Passback
FY14
FY14
FY14
FY14
Request
Agency Request
(3) Appeal
Guidance
Budget
Authority
$
Science
FY13
FY14
The Budget Process
Appropriations: February – September (?)
Department of Energy
The White House
Hearings
SAPs
Science
Fossil
Energy
•Budget Resolution
OMB
NNSA
Congress
•Top Line & Function
•302(b) Allocation
•To Approps Subs
•Subcommittee Markup
•Committee Markup
House
Senate
Approps
Approps
•Floor Vote
•Conference
President’s
Budget
Request
OMB’s Competitive Environment*
OMB
DIRECTOR
≈ $32B/$929= 4%
5 Resource Management Offices (RMOs)
Natural Resource
Programs
General Government
Programs
National Security
Programs
DOE, NSF
NASA, USDA
USGS, EPA
Smithsonian
NIST, NOAA
DOT, DHS
6.1, 6.2,
NNSA, VA
vs.
vs.
National Parks,
Forest Service,
Army Corps,
crop insurance
≈$38B/$112B= 34%
*includes mandatory and discretionary spending
vs.
Justice, HUD,
Treasury, FDIC,
Transportation,
GSA
Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marines,
Intel, State
Dept., USAID,
VA
≈ $5B/$276= 2%
≈ $76B/$891B= 8%
Appropriations’ Competitive Environment
House & Senate
Appropriations Committees
12 Appropriation Subcommittees each
Energy & Water
Labor/HHS/Ed
Commerce,
Justice, Science
Defense
DOE (SC, FE,
NIH, Ed
NASA, NSF,
NIST, NOAA
6.1, 6.2
vs.
vs.
US Attorneys,
FBI, DEA, State
& Local Law
Enforcement,
Prisons, PTO
Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marines,
Weapons
Systems
Procurement,
Intelligence
≈ $32B/$63B=50%
≈ $68B/$512B=13%
EERE, NE,
NNSA)
vs.
NNSA, Army
Corps, Bureau of
Reclamation,
Yucca Mtn, NRC,
Environmental
Mgmt.
≈ $10B/$30B=33%
vs.
Pell Grants,
JobCorps,
Vocational Rehab,
Foster Care, Head
Start, CDC, Ryan
White
& Block Grants
≈ $32B/$122B=26%
Authorization ≠ Appropriation
“on average every year there was a one in three chance that these
programs would receive a funding change (increase or decrease)
greater than 27%.”
Narayanamurti, Venkatesh, Laura D. Anadon, and Ambuj D. Sagar, Institutions for Energy Innovation: A
Transformational Challenge. Cambridge, Mass.: Report from the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program,
9Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, Fall, 2009.
The goal is to tell a story
your audience will find
compelling.
Context, Context, Context
Society
Societal Demands
Political
(Macro)
Agency
(Corporate)
VALUE
Research
Program
(Competitive)
Disciplines
Defense
Energy
Economic Security
Health
Environment
Food/Water
Discovery
Scientific
Opportunities
AMO, bio, nano,
NP, EPP, Astro
cosmology
MERIT
Making the Wrong Point
HECRTF
ScaLeS
• What does high-end
computing need?
• What could you do
with 100X more
computing power?
Making the Right Point
SciDAC
• How can high-end software
be most effectively
developed to deliver
scientific results?
FESAC Priorities & Balance
Fusion Energy
Development
ITER
Cost
Performance
Extension
Proof of
Principle
Concept
Exploration
Advanced
Stellarator
Advanced
Tokamak
Spherical
Torus
Spheromak
???
The Easiest Tale:
DOE Suite of X-Ray Synchrotron Light Sources
Putting It in the Agency Context
NAS Study called for:
– A 6 GeV synchrotron light
source
– An advanced steady state
neutron source
– A 1-2 GeV synchrotron
light source
– A high-intensity pulsed
neutron source
Seitz-Eastman, 1984
The “Trivelpiece Plan”
In 1986, Director of Energy
Research crafts a solution:
– Relativistic Heavy Ion
Collider (RHIC)
– A 1-2 GeV synchrotron
light source (ALS)
– A 6 GeV synchrotron light
source (APS)
– An advanced steady state
neutron source (ANS)
• A high-intensity pulsed
neutron source (SNS) was
eventually substituted
Highly Productive Suite of DOE Light Sources
SSRL, NSLS: pre-existing
APS, ALS: “Trivelpiece Plan”
…With Systematic Evaluation
Birgeneau-Shen, 1997
• ALS in trouble
Petroff report, 2000
• ALS fixed
Questions/Comments?
cusp.nyu.edu
NYUCUSP
@NYU_CUSP
Resources
Office of Management & Budget
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Overview
Library of Congress: Status of Appropriations Legislation
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app14.html
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/fy2014/
Center on Budget & Policy Priorities
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=155
Congressional Research Service, Budget Control Act of 2011, R41965
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41965.pdf