Massive budget cuts for US science proposed again by Trump administration

## Summary
Email Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Whatsapp X The 2027 budget proposed by the administration of President Trump would make deep cuts to many science agencies, such as the National Science Foundation. The NSF’s budget request to Congress states that the agency will shut down the SBE but maintain SBE “grants that align with Administration priorities, such as in behavioral and cognitive science, and all impacted employees will be transferred to other parts of the agency.” Budget crunch The Trump administration has proposed a plan to reduce funding for many science-related agencies. Agency 2026 budget 2027 proposed budget NASA 24.4 billion 18.8 billion National Institutes of Health 47.2 billion 41.3 billion National Science Foundation 8.8 billion 4 billion Department of Energy Office of Science 8.4 billion 7.1 billion National Institute of Standards and Technology 1.8 billion 900 million National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 6.2 billion 4.5 billion Environmental Protection Agency 8.8 billion 4.2 billion Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science, White House Office of Management and Budget, US Department of Commerce The proposed cuts to the NSF would be “devastating,” says Leigh Stearns, a glaciologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “We cannot cut the pipeline and expect the output to continue. Log in or create an account to continue Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research Access through your institution or Sign in or create an account Continue with Google Continue with ORCiD doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01105-7 Reprints and permissions Related Articles US Congress set to reject Trump’s sweeping science budget cuts Trump moves to slash NSF: why are the proposed budget cuts so big?

## Article Content
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The 2027 budget proposed by the administration of President Trump would make deep cuts to many science agencies, such as the National Science Foundation.
Credit: Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty
For the second year in a row, US President Donald Trump has proposed significant cuts to the budgets of major US science agencies. Released Friday, the White House’s plan for federal spending next year also includes a ban on using federal funds for subscriptions and publishing fees for some academic journals.
The plan
proposes cuts to federal agencies that fund or conduct research on health, space and the environment. Some of the steepest cuts would be made to
the National Science Foundation
(NSF) and the
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA): the budgets of both would fall more than 50% in 2027 compared to their current levels (see ‘Budget crunch’). The budget for the US National Institutes of Health would drop 13%.
A
budget document
says that the proposal would maintain
funding for
research on quantum information and artificial intelligence
“to ensure the United States remains on the cutting edge” in those arenas. The administration plans to increase applied research funding on those topics at the defence and energy departments, says Alessandra Zimmermann, who tracks science budgets and policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a non-profit organization in Washington DC. But basic quantum and AI research funding at NSF, for example, would be cut by 37% and 32%, respectively.
‘Congress has your back’: US senators tell scientists they want to protect NIH budget
Ultimately, it is the US Congress that decides how the federal budget will be spent — not the president.
Congress rejected the administration’s requests
for huge cuts in 2026, restoring funding for many of
the programmes the White House sought to eliminate
. Trump’s proposal is a starting point for congressional negotiations, which could last until the start of the 2027 fiscal year on 1 October — or even beyond it, because of Congressional elections on 3 November, Zimmermann says.
The budget would increase funding for presidential priorities – such as the military, which would receive US $1.5 trillion, a 44% increase – while reining in spending on many domestic programmes.
Sweeping changes
The White House seeks to slash the NSF budget by nearly 55%, to $4 billion. The proposal also cuts all funding for the NSF division that funds research on the social sciences and economics. At an internal all-hands meeting on Friday, NSF leaders announced that they would dissolve the agency’s Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences directorate based on the budget request, according to two NSF staff members who shared information anonymously in order to speak freely. The NSF’s budget request to Congress states that the agency will shut down the SBE but maintain SBE “grants that align with Administration priorities, such as in behavioral and cognitive science, and all impacted employees will be transferred to other parts of the agency.”
Budget crunch
The Trump administration has proposed a plan to reduce funding for many science-related agencies. All figures are in US dollars.
Agency
2026 budget
2027 proposed budget
NASA
24.4 billion
18.8 billion
National Institutes of Health
47.2 billion
41.3 billion
National Science Foundation
8.8 billion
4 billion
Department of Energy Office of Science
8.4 billion
7.1 billion
National Institute of Standards and Technology
1.8 billion
900 million
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
6.2 billion
4.5 billion
Environmental Protection Agency
8.8 billion
4.2 billion
Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science, White House Office of Management and Budget, US Department of Commerce
The proposed cuts to the NSF would be “devastating,” says Leigh Stearns, a glaciologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “We cannot cut the pipeline and expect the output to continue. This is how the US loses its scientific leadership — with a reckless budget line.”
The proposal would
eliminate funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
. It would also shutter three of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centres – those focusing on minority health and disparities, international research and alternative medicine.
NASA faces a 23% cut to its total budget and a 47% drop in funding for its science division. More than 40 projects would be terminated. “It's an extinction-level event for science,” says Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, a non-profit organization in Pasadena, California, that advocates for space exploration. “It would undermine and prevent NASA from being the world leader in space exploration.” NASA declined to comment on Dreier’s statement.
Publishing fees
The proposal would also prohibit the spending of “Federal funds for expensive subscriptions to academic

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Credit: Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty For the second year in a row, US President Donald Trump has proposed significant cuts to the budgets of major US science agencies.

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- The administration plans to increase applied research funding on those topics at the defence and energy departments, says Alessandra Zimmermann, who tracks science budgets and policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a non-profit organization in Washington DC.
- But basic quantum and AI research funding at NSF, for example, would be cut by 37% and 32%, respectively. ‘Congress has your back’: US senators tell scientists they want to protect NIH budget Ultimately, it is the US Congress that decides how the federal budget will be spent — not the president.
- Trump’s proposal is a starting point for congressional negotiations, which could last until the start of the 2027 fiscal year on 1 October — or even beyond it, because of Congressional elections on 3 November, Zimmermann says.
- The NSF’s budget request to Congress states that the agency will shut down the SBE but maintain SBE “grants that align with Administration priorities, such as in behavioral and cognitive science, and all impacted employees will be transferred to other parts of the agency.” Budget crunch The Trump administration has proposed a plan to reduce funding for many science-related agencies.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers science, budget, research topics. Notable strengths include discussion of science. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1285.