Short Takes – 2-10-25

Expired and Expiring Authorizations of Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2024. CBO.gov report. Summary: “The Congressional Budget Office tracks authorizations of appropriations that have specified expiration dates and identifies, annually, appropriations that are provided for authorizations that have expired or that will expire by the end of the current fiscal year. For this report, CBO identified 1,264 authorizations of appropriations that expired before the beginning of fiscal year 2024 and 251 authorizations that are set to expire before the end of the fiscal year. CBO also found that $516 billion in appropriations for 2024 was associated with 491 expired authorizations of appropriations.”

White House budget proposal could shatter the National Science Foundation. ArsTechnica.com article. Pull quote: “On Thursday, two sources told Ars that the science agency should expect to see steep cuts in Trump's forthcoming budget request. In recent years, the National Science Foundation has received an annual budget of approximately $9 billion, the vast majority of which is spent on research and research-related activities. The cuts could be as deep as 66 percent, with one person indicating the top-line budget number for the National Science Foundation could start at $3 billion.”

Bird flu variant found in Nevada cows shows signs of adaptation to mammals. CNN.com article. Pull quote: “Most bird flu infections in dairy cattle in the US have been the B3.13 variant, or what’s become known as the “cattle clade.” Researchers aren’t sure how the D1.1 variant was transmitted to the Nevada cows. Dairy farmers with infected herds reported large die-offs of wild birds near their farms before their cows got sick, according to the USDA.”

The Occurrence of Another Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) Spillover from Wild Birds into Dairy Cattle. APHIS.USDA.gov report. Pull quote: “While genotype D1.1 has been the dominant strain circulating in migratory wild birds across all four North American flyways during the winter of 2024-2025, these Nevada cases represent the first detection of a genotype other than B3.13 in U.S. dairy cattle and the second known spillover from wild birds into lactating dairy cattle.”

The NSA's "Big Delete". Popular.info article. Pull quote: “One example included a job listing page for the Department of Homeland Security that removed language about maintaining an “inclusive environment.” The Post also found examples of words being removed that had nothing to do with DEI, such as a page on the Department of the Interior’s website that boasted of its museums' “diverse collections,” removing the word “diverse.””

Seed oil-based polymer should survive a day in the rain but degrade within years in the sea. ChemistryWorld.com article. Pull quote: “The resulting polyesteramides had good thermal and mechanical properties, and melting temperatures equal to or surpassing those of some commercial plastics. ‘It was really interesting that they were able to make bioderived polyesteramides that had thermal properties comparable to common commodity plastics that we’re going to need to transition away from, like low-density and high-density polyethylene,’ comments Clare Mahon, a biodegradable polymers expert at the University of Durham in the UK.”

Trump might be stuck with Biden’s funding priorities for longer than GOP hoped. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “House Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said this week that the appetite is “growing” for a funding stopgap, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), that runs through September, as lawmakers run months behind in finishing up their funding bills for fiscal 2025.”

EO 14196 - A Plan for Establishing a United States Sovereign Wealth Fund. Federal Register.

EO 14197 - Progress on the Situation at Our Northern Border. Federal Register.

EO 14198 - Progress on the Situation at Our Southern Border. Federal Register.

EO 14199 - Withdrawing the United States From and Ending Funding to Certain United Nations Organizations and Reviewing United States Support to All International Organizations. Federal Register.