The Trump Administration’s 2020 budget request will potentially cut around $300M in research and development funds for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Fedscoop reported Tuesday.

Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., said during the House Subcommittee on Research and Technology hearing on Tuesday that the proposed budget cuts would terminate 17 percent or around 400 of the institute’s science and engineering personnel. The potential cuts will also affect the manufacturing extension partnership program, which includes efforts to improve U.S. tech performance and manufacturing capabilities.

“NIST is committed to doing the very best it can with a budget that we are ultimately allocated through this process,” said Walter Copan,  NIST director, during the hearing.

Trump’s budget will allocate $686.8M for the institute and increase funding for quantum information science, artificial intelligence and microelectronics research initiatives. The proposal will also fully fund the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, which handles research into 5G connectivity.

Lawmakers said the White House’s fiscal 2020 budget proposal for the Coast Guard is “dead on arrival” in Congress because of a lack of funding for critical missions, Military.com reported Tuesday. Officials made the remarks during a House meeting with Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz. 

The White House proposed a $11.3 billion budget for the branch for 2020 with a discretionary funding $1 billion lower than the budget for 2019. It would reduce the Coast Guard’s operational capabilities, personnel and funding for a planned new heavy icebreaker. 

“The administration proposes underfunding the Coast Guard at a time when national disasters, cyber attacks and drug trafficking are making its efforts more difficult every day,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. 

Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, said the budget proposal “is dead on arrival since Congress will not entertain these cuts.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has not fully implemented steps to modernize its grants management operations, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday.

While FEMA made steps to assess business and performance goals, track the delivery of information technology requirements and incorporate stakeholder input, the agency is still facing challenges on implementing leading business practices and tracing requirements under the Grants Management Modernization program, according to the report.

FEMA has not improved its security controls assessment procedures or established corrective action plans for medium and low-risk system vulnerabilities. The grant program schedule was “inconsistent with leading practices,” and its final delivery date of September 2020 was not based on a realistic assessment of activities under the program.

“Developing sound cost and schedule estimates is necessary to ensure that FEMA has a clear understanding of program risks,” the report stated.

GAO recommends FEMA to take action based on leading practices involving requirements management, reengineering procedures, scheduling and cybersecurity implementation.

Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator and a Wash100 winner, called on other nations and the private sector to help the U.S. to return humans to the lunar surface in 2024, Space.com reported Tuesday. He said NASA could meet the mission’s schedule, but the agency needs partnerships outside the government to help reduce its financial burden.  

“Putting humans on the moon in 2024 is not an America-alone effort,” Bridenstine said at the 35th Space Symposium at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado. “We need all of our international partners. In fact, none of us can do what we want to achieve alone.”

Some countries already expressed interest in contributing technology and hardware for the NASA Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway that will serve as the space station in moon’s orbit. The European Space Agency and Japan’s space agency, JAXA, intend to provide lunar landers and life-support systems.

Bridenstine said funding would be the biggest challenge NASA will face in sending astronauts back to the moon. NASA is making changes in its 2020 budget request to adjust plans designed for the lunar mission’s original 2028 schedule. 

“The plans that we laid out for 2028 are the same plans that we’re going to use to get to the moon in 2024. We’re just going to have to move forward some of our investments, but it’s all achievable,” Bridenstine said.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the department intends to build up the country’s competitiveness in the global space market through promotional initiatives and regulatory reform, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

“At the Commerce Department, our goal is to ensure that the United States captures the lion’s share of burgeoning space markets,” Ross said Tuesday during the 35th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. “We are bullish on making and keeping America the flag of choice for innovative space companies.”

He noted the country’s government pavilion will showcase the U.S. commercial space industry at the Paris Air Show in June with opportunities for collaboration. “It is important that the U.S. lead in cooperation with our allies,” Ross said. Ross said the department is working on regulatory reform initiatives as stated in the Space Policy Directive 2, including an assessment of space-related products on the agency’s export control lists.

Air Force Secretary and 2019 Wash100 Award winner Heather Wilson said the service adopts a comprehensive approach based on “a clear-eyed assessment of the world as it is” to maintain the country’s superiority in space, the Air Force reported Tuesday. 

Wilson the assessment extends to discussions over the establishment of space force as the sixth military branch during the 35th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo on Tuesday. She said the Air Force uses the authorities given by Congress to accelerate the deployment of new capabilities and will hold a pitch day for space programs in Los Angeles in 2020 as part of the effort to speed up the acquisition process. 

Acting Defense Secretary and fellow 2019 Wash100 Award recipient Patrick Shanahan and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein also delivered speeches at the symposium.