San Diego

US scientists have reacted anxiously to a government plan to contract out federal scientific projects, citing fears that the scheme could damage research. The plan met stiff opposition in Congress earlier this month, but the Bush administration wants to implement it before the November 2004 presidential election.

The administration's plan involves contracting out about 425,000 federal jobs, which may include hundreds of researchers. Under the scheme, private firms with scientific staff might perform research that is now conducted by government scientists. Administration officials say that privatizing jobs will save money and increase efficiency.

The scheme hit problems on 17 July, when the House of Representatives voted to block plans to privatize two National Park Service regional archaeology centres, involving 100 staff. Researchers at the Midwest Archeological Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Southeast Archeological Center in Tallahassee, Florida, have been carrying out cultural studies on public and private lands for more than 30 years.

But further disputes are expected in the coming weeks, as congressional hearings for the 2004 financial-year budget discuss privatization in other agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One union official at the EPA says he fears that 150 jobs in his 1,000-member chapter could be privatized. The NIH is already studying how to outsource almost 1,000 jobs in the 2004 fiscal year.

Critics of the plan say that staff whose positions are privatized could lose their jobs if they are not re-employed by the private firm that takes over. Others add that private companies could be more willing to bow to political pressure over controversial research. “When you replace government scientists with private ones, the latter are more likely to pull their punches, and not raise or address sensitive issues,” says Jeff Ruch of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a Washington-based pressure group that promotes government accountability.