SPIE joins 50 scientific societies to urge U.S. Congress to rethink August executive order on federal grants

25 Sep 2025

Letter warns: “EO does not advance the Administration’s goal of implementing Gold Standard Science – More review and oversight are needed.”

The letter addressed to the United States Congress.

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, has joined a coalition of more than 50 scientific societies in issuing a letter to the United States Congress. The letter expresses concerns over provisions in the 7 August 2025 Executive Order (EO) entitled Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking.

The letter also urges Congress to provide necessary oversight to federal science agencies to prevent potentially significant damage to US leadership in scientific and medical research.

The US federal grantmaking ecosystem serves as the gold standard for supporting cutting-edge research and driving technological innovation worldwide. While ongoing evaluation and oversight of this ecosystem contribute to its effectiveness, the directives within the EO raise questions regarding the possibility of politicization in federally funded research.

Safeguarding the peer-review process

The letter urges Congress to take action to safeguard the integrity of the independent, merit-based peer-review system. It also raises concerns over the expansion of “termination for convenience” authority, and the many inefficiencies introduced in the grantmaking process by requiring grant recipients to provide written explanations for each drawdown of funds.

Finally, the letter supports the EO’s goal of ensuring that grants are given to a broad range of recipients but raises questions over how “repeat players” will be determined.

The letter is addressed to congressional leadership, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The letter was also sent to the congressional committees with oversight of federal science agencies.

The full text of the letter and the list of signatories can be found here: Letter addressed to congressional leadership regarding 7 August 2025 Executive Order (PDF).