U.S. Congress Firmly Rebukes Trump Request to Lower Funding for NOAA, NASA, and National Science Foundation: A Victory for Science Funding

      NBC News reports that Congress has firmly turned down the Trump administration’s request to spend less budget money on science and environmental programs.

“In an 82-15 vote, the Senate approved a minibus budget bill to fund agencies involved in science and the environment, among other issues, through Sept. 30. The bill passed in the House last week by a vote of 397 to 28.”

     Those are really huge margins: 85% in the Senate and 93% in the House, or 91.4% overall. The Trump administration's request called for reducing the National Science Foundation’s budget by 57%, and funding for the portion of NASA dedicated to science research by about 47%, and the NOAA, which oversees the National Weather Service, was slated for a 27% cut.

“The package even includes notable boosts for a few science programs that the Trump administration had singled out for elimination in its budget request, such as NOAA’s satellite program. It also provides funding to boost National Weather Service staffing, which the administration cut significantly via buyout offers and its firing of probationary workers.”

     The Trump administration had also planned to cut spending for indirect research costs for such things as equipment, operations, maintenance, accounting, and personnel.

     According to a bill summary by the Senate Appropriations Committee, the bill provides $1.67 billion above President Trump’s request for NOAA, including $224 million for climate research at NOAA.

     The Committee called Trump’s proposal to cut NSF funding “ludicrous.”

“NSF is funded at $8.75 billion, rejecting President Trump’s ludicrous proposal to cut federal investment in this essential scientific research and innovation by 57%, which would have returned NSF to its fiscal year 2000 funding level just as our global competitors are doubling down on their investments. The bill invests $7.18 billion for NSF’s research and related activities, level with fiscal year 2025, to help drive U.S. economic competitiveness, including investments in artificial intelligence and quantum information science, and the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships.”

     For NASA, the new bill also saves its science funding that the administration wants to cut.

“The bill provides $24.44 billion for NASA, which is $5.63 billion above President Trump’s request. The bill rejects the administration’s devastating proposal to cut NASA Science by 47% and terminate 55 operating and planned missions. It instead provides $7.25 billion.”

     Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash, summarized the results:

“We rejected Trump’s plan to slash the funding for scientific research and the National Science Foundation’s budget by 57%, cut NASA’s science budget in half and devastate NOAA and climate research that all of us rely on for accurate weather forecasting,”

     It is good to see strong pushback against unwise policies that would gut U.S. scientific research. The U.S. is in a scientific competition, mostly with China, to do the best scientific research and development, and that goal needs to be adequately funded. If, as the administration often states, the U.S. wants to be a leader in science, we need to fund it. The administration seeks energy dominance, Western hemisphere dominance, and other forms of dominance, yet submission in science? Although I don’t like the idea of seeking “dominance” (leadership is a better word), it's better than ceding to China.  

  

 

References:

 

Congress passes bill to fund U.S. science agencies, rebuffing Trump's requested cuts. Evan Bush. NBC News. January 15, 2026. Congress passes bill to fund U.S. science agencies, rebuffing Trump's requested cuts

BILL SUMMARY: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations Bill. U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. FY26 CJS Conference Bill Summary.pdf