The Administration's Cancer Moonshot Will Just Start Coming Together as They Leave Office, but Republicans Can Keep It Going.

The administration’s Cancer Moonshot will just start coming together as they leave office, but Republicans can keep it going.

When President John F. Kennedy made his moonshot speech in September 1962, he thought he had at least two years left in office—over six if he got reelected. Plus, his party controlled Congress, giving him even more power to reach that goal. President Obama announced his moonshot to cure cancer (to be headed by VP Joe Biden) in his final State of the Union address. This week the administration revealed in a memorandum that the program may not be fully fleshed out until the final weeks of Obama's second term—with Republicans likely still holding Congress and perhaps entering the White House.

Can the Cancer Moonshot outlive Obama and Biden, and a possible handover of power to the rival party? It very well could. The effort already seems to have several powerful Republican supporters in the House, and its focus on cutting government bureaucracy and promoting the private sector should appeal to conservatives—even if it means spending more money.

Also, it would be hard to undo something so big and potentially popular. The memorandum that the president signed this week creates a Cancer Moonshot task force that pulls together five departments of the federal government (Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, and the VA). It also pulls in other federal agencies, such as the Office of Management and Budget, draws in major universities, and promises public-private partnerships. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will coordinate the efforts. It's unclear whether government will grant funding to the private sector, although the memorandum mentions "targeted incentives" as part of the program...