1. R&D Funding in the New Administration and Congress
Matt Hourihan
May 31, 2017
For MITRE
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program

4. R&D Funding in the Obama Years
While the President’s requests were regularly unfulfilled, appropriators still found ways to fund research…when there was fiscal room
“All politics is local”
Competitiveness, health, energy independence, national security; individual legislator priorities
However, still areas of particular disagreement, i.e.:
Climate science
Social science
Applied tech: energy, manufacturing
Duplication, role of government, waste, accountability, transparency

7. R&D in the FY 2018 Budget FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 Change FY 17-18
(budget authority in millions of dollars)
FY 2016
FY 2017
FY 2018
Change FY 17-18
Actual
Estimate*
Budget
Amount
Percent
Total R&D
148,302
156,586
151,244
-5,342
-3.4%
Basic Research
32,913
34,887
28,936
-5,951
-17.1%
Applied Research
37,047
40,161
33,485
-6,676
-16.6%
Development**
75,760
78,939
86,741
7,802
9.9%
Facilities & Equipment
2,582
2,650
2,082
-568
-21.4%
Defense R&D
79,263
83,689
92,473
8,783
10.5%
Nondefense R&D
69,039
72,897
58,771
-14,126
-19.4%
*AAAS estimates based on the FY 2017 omnibus. Other years based on OMB data.
**Using old definition, continuing to count DOD 6.7 as R&D.
5/24/2017 | AAAS

10. Reception and Questions…
Some initial Republican responses:
“draconian, careless, and counterproductive”
“cannot pass”
“does not work”
“you’ll see some changes”
“ridiculous”
FY18 budget resolution: Where do the caps end up?
Remember: 60 votes required to change!
FY18 appropriations: does support continue? How does the basic/applied dichotomy shake out?

12. For more info…