Cole Donovan

@colesci

Director of Science Policy and Advocacy @StandupforScience.net 🦆 Former White House OSTP; Federation of American Scientists; NOAA Office of Space Commerce; National Academies; State Department. Science advocate. Former diplomat. Geeky painter. Views own.

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¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y colesci.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Cole Donovan@colesci· 25d

Happy six years being my little shadow. Love this cat so much.

Cole Donovan@colesci· 28d

A slightly more infamous plaque than in prior decades

Cole Donovan@colesci· 29d

What is the mechanism for these transactions

4:54 4
4 Reuters
"TRUTH.
< Truth Details
629 replies
...
Donald J. Trump C @realDonald Trump
t
The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain
OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait. The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as "THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT," but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World. The process and formation will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD
J. TRUMP
1.3
PM
truthsocial.com

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jul 9

If only there were a type of professional available to spot this kind of problem ahead of time available to the Administration

Trump administration officials saw that clause as unlocking the strait, the main accomplishment of the president's deal. Iranian hard-liners, however, have used it to push a maximalist interpretation that gives the Islamic Republic exclusive control over the waterway as a key source of leverage.

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jul 8

American foreign policy community about to have a very normal one

44m ago
04.25 EDT
And that ends their short briefing, with Trump saying he will be back later, and Rutte desperately throwing in that he will also do a press conference if anyone is interested in it please.
< Share
46m ago 04.24 EDT
Trump also heaps praise on Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, praising the Turkish military might, and, amusingly, out of nowhere praises China, too.
< Share

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jul 5

10 minutes ago
Aishvarya Kavi Reporting from the National
Mall
It is a chaotic scene on the National Mall.
Several hundred people have refused to leave despite an order to evacuate because of severe inclement weather that is approaching. Some are even arguing with Secret Service agents. At one point, a crowd of people began running back toward the stage. An officer is sternly repeating the order over a bullhorn and the crowd is booing. Many have begun chanting "U.S.A., U.S.A." A federal law enforcement officer is trying to assure people that the event has not been canceled. Many are not convinced.
One man walking by blamed the situation on "liberals in the weather service," adding,
"I think this is baloney."

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 25

Oh my god he admit it Link: www.regulations.gov/document/NSF...

The NSF Guidance on Financial Assistance (GFA) replaces the NSF Proposal and Award
Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (version 24-1). The GFA enhances use for proposers
and recipients of NSF grants and cooperative agreements by:
• Aligning NSF policy with applicable Executive Orders, including EO 14222,
Implementing the President's "Department of Government Efficiency" Cost Efficiency
Initiative; EO 14332, Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking; and EO 14303,
Restoring Gold Standard Science.
• Aligning with the proposed revisions to the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB)
Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR 200 through the proposed rule published on May 29, 2026
(see 91 Fed. Reg. 32, 198, May 29, 2026).
• Streamlining financial assistance policies and procedures to reduce administrative
burden and eliminate duplicative content.
• Distinguishing policies from procedures to improve clarity and usability.
• Organizing content by topic rather than by chapter to improve access to information.
• Using plain language to improve readability and accessibility.
• Distinguishing responsibilities for different users (e.g., Principal Investigators, Authorized
Organizational Representatives, and Sponsored Project Offices).

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 24

Gimli: Never thought I'd be fighting the OMB rule alongside a credit rating agency
Legolas: I'm assigning a Baa1 rating to SpaceX
Gimli: JFC

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 24

Welcome to the resistance (checks notes) Moody's Ratings fixedincome.fidelity.com/ftgw/fi/FINe...

The Trump administration's proposal to overhaul and solidify rules governing the federal grant process could prove to be a credit negative for public finance issuers, Moody's Ratings said Monday.

The Office of Management and Budget on May 29 published a proposed rule that would revamp the way all federal agencies award financial assistance. The rule would require agencies to appoint a senior political appointee who would approve grants and would expand agencies' authority to terminate or suspend active grants that have already been awarded.

The proposal would broaden the list of factors agencies use to evaluate applicant risk to include "an applicant's affiliations with organizations engaged in activities that violate federal law, undermine public safety or national security, or advocate for the overthrow of the United States Government."

The proposal also includes new bans on grants that "fund, promote, encourage, subsidize, or facilitate" diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

OMB said the proposed revisions would improve transparency, accountability, and oversight for the grant process while reducing the burden on recipients by streamlining notices of funding opportunities and application criteria.

It would not affect formula funds, block grants or post-disaster funds, Moody's noted in its commentary.

"But there are a lot of competitive grants that public finance issuers get ? the kind of grants that go to colleges and universities, hospitals and transit agencies," Moody's analyst Nicholas Samuels told The Bond Buyer.

If the rule is adopted, "there's going to be another layer of review that is very open-ended about how the federal government might deny grants, which may not be upfront when you're applying but it could be midstream, when you're relying on the money for particular projects," he said. "This is another layer of unpredictability for public finance issuers to deal with related to federal funds."

Terminating grants that issuers may have alrea…

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 22

We absolutely do, as we wrote into the Research and Development Infrastructure report in 2024. I don't think that creating yet another model for RDI answers the question of how you wind down legacy and unnecessary RDI. The EU tried with ERICs to build financially sustainable RDI. They're not.

Maintaining Strong and Integrated RDI Planning and Coordination...

Regularly review and document RDI needs and develop planning processes that encompass repurposing, reusing, or decommissioning low-priority RDI.

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 22

Trying to save an R&D enterprise that produces outcomes like this is sometimes difficult, but necessary

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 20

Have progressed slightly

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 20

Mages, post ‘em if you got ‘em (The geeky painter tag isn’t just a thing, this was 25 years ago)

A Warhammer dark emissary painted roughly 25 years ago

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 20

Will stand for giraffes too

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 17

Narrator: there was not actually an effort to reduce administrative burdens or attract top talent

Second: How can we revitalize America's science and technology enterprise - pursuing truth, reducing administrative burdens, and empowering researchers to achieve groundbreaking discoveries?

We need new paradigms for the research enterprise, including innovative models for funding and sharing scientific research, redefining how America conducts the business of discovery. We must build an ecosystem that attracts top talent, celebrates merit, protects our intellectual edge, and enables scientists to focus on meaningful work rather than administrative box checking.

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 17

We didn’t buy a pool; we bought a pond.

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 17

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 14

No one could have predicted this (Source: The Endless Frontier, written by Vannevar Bush, one of the architects of the Manhattan Project)

It is my view that most of the remainder of the classified scientific material should be released as soon as there is ground for belief that the enemy will not be able to turn it against us in this war. Most of the information needed by industry and in education can be released without disclosing its embodiments in actual military material and devices. Basically there is no reason to believe that scientists of other countries will not in time rediscover everything we now know which is held in secrecy. A broad dissemination of scientific information upon which further advances can readily be made furnishes a sounder foundation for our national security than a policy of restriction which would impede our own progress although imposed in the hope that possible enemies would not catch up with us.

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 14

The White House lawn, everyone

Motorcycles doing stunts on the White House lawn in front of branded advertisements. Source: AP

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 13

Proud to join more than 320 other organizations in support of an extension for the OMB Regulation on Federal Financial Assistance, but let’s be clear—this thing is worse than deficient. We have supported extension in our own comment, but this thing must be withdrawn.

June 12, 2026
Filed electronically via Regulations.gov
Honorable Russell Vought
Director, US Office of Management and Budget
The White House
Re:
OMB guidance governing federal grants and cooperative agreements
Regulation Codifying Policies on Federal Financial Assistance, Revisions to 2 CFR
91 Fed. Reg. 32198 (May 29, 2026)
Extension of Comment Period to August 27, 2026
Dear Director Vought:
The undersigned organizations across science, research, policy, and education come to you jointly to ask for a 45-day extension to the comment period for the proposed rule by the Ottice of Management and Budget to revise Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations, published on May 29, 2026. Presently, comments are due July 13, 2026 and we ask that on or before June 30, 2026 a Federal Register Notice is published extending the comment period to August 27, 2026.
The scope and impact of OMB's proposed rule is vast. The proposed rule amends 91 parts of Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations across 456 different sections of the regulations, adding 52 new subsections and fully restating 375 sections. The rule will impact the entirety of
government stant making across the unted siles. Umo asei says the revisions suggested would relate to over $179 billion of funds to small entities. In addition to these entities, NSF reports that $64 billion was spent in FY2024 at universities on R&D, much of it through grants and cooperative agreements. NIH allocated approximately 535.9 billion in extramural funding that same fiscal year. These are just examples of the small but important components of the approximately $1.2 trillion that the federal government spends via grants and cooperative
A 45-day comment period is insufficient to allow completion of the
multi-disciplinary analysis needed to provide useful feedback to OMB.
A 90-day period is warranted because this rule is complex and wide-ranging and never appeared on the Unified Agenda as a regulatory action being undertaken by OMB. The fac…

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 11

The basilisk is either intentionally gaslighting the internet about my beliefs or we have nothing to worry about, fam. Also LOL

Al and Scientific Collections: He writes extensively on how infrastructure, such as physical scientific collections, must be properly maintained and funded to support modern advancements like Al for science.

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 11

I do have to hand it to OpenAI for all the innuendo because it isn’t the own they think it is openai.com/index/prc-li...

own activity. Foreign influence operations have long sought to latch onto existing local issues and sincerely held beliefs, using them to build credibility, amplify divisions or exacerbate public distrust.
In this case, the operators attempted to covertly insert themselves into an ongoing American debate about the future of the country's Al capabilities while hiding who they were and what motivated them.

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 10

Love when Korra hit that stage

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 7

LOL WHAT

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 7

Ok here is my hot take that isn’t a take but actually reality. A) The United States has been on the metric system since 1875 (Meter Convention) B) Every imperial unit used in the United States is based on SI measurements C) The American economy couldn’t function without the metric system

Countries that signed the meter convention

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 5

Update: And then things got worse Source: appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

$Fv7060120d2:5.0.巴 June 1, 2026(3.51 p.m.) 794 AlIa. 162 of 208 NIFY 2027 BILL\LABOR FY27 - SUB.XML 162 (RESCISSION) 2 SEC. 318. Of the amounts appropriated under section 3 401(b)(7)(A)(iv) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 4 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(7)(A)(iv) for fiscal rear 2027, 5$20,000,000 are hereby rescinded. SEC. 319. (a) Section 455(a)(3) of the Higher Edu- 7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(a)(3)) is amended 8 by adding at the end the following: "(D) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO MAKE SUBSIDIZED LOANS TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS.— Subject to paragraph (8) and notwithstanding any provision of this part or part B, for any period of instruction beginning on or after July 1, 2027- "i) an undergraduate student shall not be eligible to receive a Federal Direct Stafford loan under this part; and "(i) the maximum annual amount of Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loans such a student may borrow in any academic year (as defined in section 481(a)(2)) or its equivalent shall be the maximum annual amount for such student determined under section 428H1, plus an amount equal to the amount of Federal L'w706012617060126.003.xml June 1, 2026 (3.51 p.m.) IA119TH CONGRESS, 2ND SESSIONIFY 2027 BILLILABOR FY27 - SUB.XML 163 Direct Stafford loans the student would cahis sub- < appropriations.house.gov 5 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(a)(8)) is amended by adding in$

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 4

Comment posted. Now we wait.

STAND UP FOR SCIENCE FOUNDATION

COMMENT ON OMB REGULATION FOR FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The Stand Up for Science Foundation (SUFS) is issuing our comment on the proposed Rule "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance (OMB-2026-0034) posted on May 29, 2026, proposing to revise parts of the OMB Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance located in title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) (the Rule).

Executive Summary

As further discussed here, the Rule is fundamentally flawed, internally inconsistent, and will expose the government to numerous, expensive and time consuming lawsuits that could halt its implementation. It introduces language that violates free speech rights and will distort empirical observations to conform with political ideology. It makes assertions of biological realities that conflict with the real, lived experiences of humans. It will force decoupling of the United States from our foreign partners, and position the recipients of federal grants in ways that increase the risk of national security incidents. It conflicts with legislative prohibitions on the introduction of restrictions on foreign collaborations.

Our comment is not exhaustive; rather, it seeks to highlight significant ways in which language in the proposed regulation is fundamentally flawed and should be withdrawn.

About the Stand Up for Science Foundation

SUFS is a non-profit 501(c)(3) founded in 2025 whose mission is to works to educate the public about science and science policy, protect scientific integrity in our public institutions, strengthen accountability, and ensure that evidence-based science drives policies that serve the people.

Our experience includes expertise in drafting, negotiating, and commenting on federal regulations and laws, navigating the Legislative Referral Memorandum process managed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), experience with export control restrictions for large international collaborations, involvement in regulatory di…

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 4

What about the supervisory recreational boating product assurance analyst and why they need to be a political appointee

Positions of "Supervisory Recreational Boating Product Assurance Analyst" under position description number 19373608;

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 4

Taking a moment to recognize the great John Blanche, who passed away recently. His art helped define a unique era of heavy metal, Mad Max and Bladerunner-ish religious-techno fascist satire in the early 1980s that's only grown in popularity and relevance since. Thanks for my teen years.

John Blanche art of a dark and dystopian future city ruled by techno-priests.

Cole Donovan@colesci· Jun 2

Chippy says hi