Key Engineering Policy Issues for the 119th Congress

As ASME gears up education and outreach activities for the 119th Congress, we’re following the policy areas that align with our mission to advance engineering for the benefit of humanity! Some of the key issues that you can look forward to reading about in Policy Impact in the year ahead include: 

• Action from the Administration on science and engineering policy development, including Artificial Intelligence and other critical and emerging technology issues;  

• Congressional priorities for budget reconciliation impacting federal science and engineering program outlays  

• How federal R&D and workforce development accounts perform in the FY25-26 budget process 

• How permitting and regulatory reform initiatives may impact engineering technology regulation, manufacturing, and deployment.   

The rapid evolution of AI technologies will be a cross-cutting topic this year, influencing policy development around R&D, workforce development, and a wide variety of intellectual property issues. For example, AI tools are enabling a wide variety of new commercial applications, including real-time analysis of massive amounts of data and new products that provide near-term quality of life improvements. AI-generated content is also creating new challenges in academia and beyond, raising new questions about data integrity, the importance of peer review, and how federal public access and data policies will impacting scholarly publishing and the research community.  

By fostering collaboration among engineering professionals, academia, and government, ASME aims to shape policies that advance engineering innovation and public welfare. To read more ASME Policy Impact coverage, visit: https://www.asme.org/government-relations/policy-impact