On Wednesday, June 17th the Senate passed the Saving the OOI Act with unanimous consent. This bill prohibits dismantling the OOI. The bill had not yet passed the House.
For those unfamiliar, this implies they would have been able to override a presidential veto, so the administration backtracking is just saving the president the embarassment of a defiant congress/disunified party.
When Trump vetoed a drinking water project for Colorado that had passed both the House and Senate by unanimous consent they failed to override it. Don’t underestimate how afraid Republicans in Congress are of angering Trump.
Trump cares about winning, and appearing invincible, a lot. That’s why in close races, he only endorses near the end when he’s sure who’s going to win.
The context behind this is head of OMB Russell Vought thinks impoundments - not paying out congressionally authorized funds - is constitutional. So this seems like a legitimate retreat on one of many impoundment issues. It required real pressure from Congress as they try to harden appropriations against an OMB willing to use almost every tactic to not disburse funds.
But impoundment issues persist in NASA and other science agencies in particular.
Still, it’s a hopeful sign that the constitutional system is not broken completely
The only small catch is that NSF did not acknowledge it was illegally withholding funds Congress authorized for the array. And so who knows what might change in the future.
Still Congress seemed willing to pressure the administration on the issue and was about to pass a law directly earmarking the project.
I ran into this lovely cross-survey paper three months ago, and was so thankful: an amazing incredible view of reality, a depth of understanding. It was such a horror to think of ripping up such amazing science!
Past, present and future of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation
Josep L. Pelegrí
In the sense that the arsonist who has set the building on fire has been stopped from also lighting a wooden bucket on fire right now, sure, positive news.
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
The building is not burned down. Not making everything worst all the time has to be the first step.
Second derivatives, and all that.
No reason to pop the Champaign on time square for everyone ; but all the scientists working on this can take a good, deep breath of relief. And the republican senators who broke rank need to be nagged in breaking ranks on other topics. (Don't get me wrong, they do it purely for electoral purpose - but that's a feature of representative democracy, not a bug.)
