Federation of American Scientists

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Striving for a safer world since 1945 science policy | nuclear weapons | clean energy | STEM education | artificial intelligence | data privacy | much much more

Tweet from Amtrak Northeast: "Travel Update: Due to temperature-related conditions, Trains 72, 74,76, 73, 75, and 77 are canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around Recently discharged heart failure patients beat the national 25% odds of readmission to the hospital within 30 days because CMS Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program data spurred their hospital to collaborate with community-based providers for follow-up support at home.
Stayin’ Alive A Girl Scout successfully performed CPR on an adult volunteer who had a heart attack on a hiking trail, applying training from a city-sponsored program launched in response to Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data showing high local rates of cardiovascular disease.
My Heart Will Go On A patient with high blood pressure that creeps up in the spring controls it with allergy shots rather than upping his blood pressure meds because his doctor read that people with allergies and asthma are at greater risk of heart disease, thanks to National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data.
don't go breaking my heart health data
These changes significantly alter DOE’s internal map. Programs that once lived together are now split apart, while other functions have been consolidated under new leadership structures. The result is a department whose mission areas are organized very differently than they were even a few months ago, leaving open questions about how core clean energy, deployment, and innovation functions will be staffed and managed going forward. Though previous administrations, including the Biden administration, have conducted reorganizations of DOE in the past, this reorganization was implemented with significantly less transparency. As of late December, the brief initial announcement and new organization chart are the only information the public has received on the reorganization. DOE’s website is currently inaccessible. Career staff have reported that they still lack clarity as to how their chains-of-command will be affected and whether or not the programs they work on will continue or change. These structural changes are unfolding at the same time DOE is experiencing substantial workforce losses, which heightens uncertainty about staff capacity. It remains unclear how remaining staff are being reassigned within the new organizational chart. With offices being renamed or re-scoped — and in many cases merged, split, or relocated — advocacy and stakeholder communities cannot easily determine whether DOE retains the necessary expertise or institutional knowledge to carry out ongoing work.
Furthermore, the deep cuts to S3 call into question DOE’s ability to implement the remaining BIL and IRA funding for demonstration and deployment programs, not to mention DOE’s ability to oversee the billions of dollars worth of demonstration and deployment awards it has already made. Many of the new S3 staff were intentionally hired from the private sector for their industry knowledge and connections. These federal workers were subsequently the first to leave after the presidential transition. They took a risk in working for the federal government, and then were made to feel expendable by the new administration’s heavy-handed attempts to push people out. That experience will color any future attempts by DOE to rehire private sector talent.
By attracting many industry leaders from the private sector, the S3 offices were able to build trust with major energy companies, leading to much higher participation from top companies in BIL and IRA programs compared to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Many of the staff responsible for this heightened private sector trust have now left the agency.