Uncertain times

摘要

Nearly three months into the across-the-board budgetary cuts known as sequestration, the US Congress seems as petulant and ineffectual as ever. There is no end in sight to the national economic stalemate driven by Senate Democrats, House Republicans and President Barack Obama. Congress has made only a few halfhearted and piecemeal attempts to fix some of the sequestration cuts, such as loosening restrictions on Federal Aviation Administration funds so that air-traffic controllers can get back to work. No such deals have been forthcoming for science agencies or research.