The discussion centers on a proposal to eliminate the peer review requirement for grant awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Concerns are raised about the implications of granting significant power to a single individual in this process, with some suggesting it could undermine the integrity of scientific funding. The conversation highlights that the proposal appears to target social sciences, with a mention of the NSF's total active awards in this area being around $1 billion, which is a small fraction of the NSF's overall budget of $7 billion. This has led to skepticism about the proposal being a genuine effort for fiscal conservatism, with suggestions that it may be more about political posturing rather than a substantive critique of funding practices. The discussion also suggests that if fiscal responsibility is the goal, attention should be directed toward larger budgets in other departments like the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) or the Department of Defense (DOD).
