The GAO report, dated March 25, also questions the bureaucratic mechanisms surrounding the annual federal budget process and the "institutional framework" used by the executive branch to set national science policies.
The study was begun as an internal review of the subject, but GAO officials decided to make it public because of its relevance to the upcoming final report of the congressional Science Policy Task Force. Officials at three federal agencies have criticized some of the report's recommendations, and the House Science, Technology and Space Committee plans to hold hearings this summer on its findings.
The GAO report, entitled "U.S. Science and Engineering Base: A Synthesis of Concerns About Budget and Policy Development," notes ongoing concern within the science community "about the adequacy of federal support … and the relative priorities for resource allocations reflected in the federal budget." The federal government is the major patron of basic research, funding ...
