Ranking Member Khanna and Select Committee Democrats Question Witnesses During Hearing on Federal Research Security
WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Ro Khanna (CA-17), Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, alongside Democratic Members Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), and Tom Suozzi (NY-03), questioned witnesses at a Select Committee hearing on federal research security. Select Committee Democrats used their questions to analyze the impact of the Trump Administration’s budget cuts and policies scaring away leading talent on our national security and ability to innovate.
Ranking Member Khanna highlighted the decrease in staff at the NSF’s Office of Research Security following DOGE’s push for deferred resignations and early retirements asking, “how many people were employed in that office at the end of 2024 compared to today?”
Dr. Rebecca Keiser, Acting Chief of Staff and Chief of Research Security Policy and Strategy, National Science Foundation, answered, “At the end of 2024, we had ten people in the research security office. We currently have five, which does meet the requirement in CHIPS and Science. Of course, we would love to build and have more.”
Ranking Member Khanna also asked about federal funding cuts leading to declines in U.S. Ph.D. enrollment, currently down 15%, and the impacts on U.S. competitiveness.
Rep. Krishnamoorthi’s questioning focused on the Trump Administration’s unprecedented federal research cuts and their negative impacts, pointing to the eliminated USAID project focusing on eradicating New World screwworm before this year’s outbreak, as well as cuts to NIH Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases like Ebola. In the face of these cuts, he noted, China has topped the U.S. in research and development (R&D) spending and is offering guaranteed funding to academics based in the U.S.
“Dr. Keiser, China wants our talent, and you've previously testified in the Science and Technology Committee that China is actively reaching out to researchers to recruit them, right?” asked Rep. Krishnamoorthi.
“Yes. That's correct,” Dr. Keiser replied.
Rep. Krishnamoorthi concluded by saying, “Trump's cuts are driving away talent. Trump's cuts are making us less healthy. Trump's cuts are leaving us with nothing left to steal. Research needs to be secure. But if there's no research left to steal, what's the point?”
Rep. Castor acknowledged the importance of research security and ensuring competitors are unable to exploit the openness of our research ecosystem, while also noting she is, “very concerned that what is happening here, self-inflicted by the current administration, is doing much more harm than the outside security threat.”
Rep. Castor asked Mr. Jeremy Ison, Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy, “How do you justify substantial budget and scientific and personnel cuts to our national laboratories at a time that we are trying we're in this strategic competition with the Chinese communist party?”
After Mr. Ison deferred the question, Rep. Castor responded, “it was more of a rhetorical question…we need to keep the United States of America preeminent in the world when it comes to scientific research in health, in energy, all across the board. And right now, this administration is taking a hatchet to our leadership. And that's not acceptable.”
Rep. Tokuda questioned witnesses on the impacts of a proposed NDAA amendment that would prohibit Chinese nationals from physical access to national labs.
“If we arbitrarily apply simply a nationality test – no other risk factors that are already embedded in many of the rigorous protocols that exist – it sounds like you will not be able to potentially meet your congressional mandate to be able to conduct critical research in areas that are being done at the national labs. Could you agree to that – you would lose researchers…critical researchers?” asked Rep. Tokuda.
Dr. Patricia Valdez, Chief Extramural Research Integrity Officer, National Institutes of Health, replied, “I’ll say that definitely would restrict the number of individuals that can participate in research.”
Rep. Suozzi spoke to his own experience as a first-generation American, having witnessed the discrimination his father faced as an Italian immigrant following World War II:
“We have to try and stop these malign influences from having access to our data,” he noted. “My concern is we have to balance that with…there are a lot of Chinese Americans, or there are Chinese nationals that have come to school in America, and are researching in America, that are very important to our institutions. And we can't [use] the concern we have with the Chinese Communist Party to discriminate against people. We [need] the balance between our security concerns and our civil rights concerns.”
Video of the full Select Committee hearing is available here.