On March 28th, 2022, President Biden presented his annual budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2023 (FY23). The White House has proposed $1.64 trillion in discretionary spending for FY23. The budget request focuses on strengthening supply chains and manufacturing, rebuilding critical infrastructure, aggressive action on climate change, advancing economic equity, and continuing to deliver support for economic recovery from the pandemic. The budget request also calls for significant increases in investments in research and development in science, technology, and healthcare.
Healthcare: The White House is requesting $5 billion for ARPA-H, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, to fund research breakthroughs in cancer, Alzheimer’s, dementia, and diabetes. The request is part of the proposed $49 billion for the National Institutes of Health, which will help advance the Cancer Moonshot Initiative to reduce cancer rates by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years.
Climate: The budget calls for nearly $45 billion in investments to tackle the climate crisis, including $17 billion for clean energy research, development, and demonstration across the federal government; including the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and Department of Agriculture. The Advanced Research and Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) would also be given expanded authority to more fully address innovation gaps around adaptation, mitigation, and resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Science & Technology: President Biden has again called for Congress to directly fund a new Directorate for Technology, Partnerships, and Innovation at the National Science Foundation, requesting $880 million for FY23. The directorate would help translate research into practical applications by working with programs across the agency and with other federal and non-federal entities to expedite technology development in emerging areas deemed critical to U.S. global leadership including: artificial intelligence, high performance computing, disaster response and resilience, quantum information systems, robotics, advanced communications technologies, biotechnology, cybersecurity, advanced energy technologies, and materials science.
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