Science Policy This Week: April 6, 2026

Trump again proposes deep cuts to science agencies

The Trump administration has proposed significant cuts to many science agencies in its budget request for fiscal year 2027, including:

• An 84% cut to the National Institute of Standards and Technology;
• A 54% cut to the National Science Foundation;
• A 47% cut to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, as well as a 23% cut to NASA’s overall budget;
• A 13% cut to the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, despite a 2% increase to DOE’s overall budget;
• A 10% cut to the National Institutes of Health;
• No funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s research arm; and
• Cuts to basic research at the Department of Defense and the U.S. Geological Survey.

In contrast, the administration proposed a 12% increase to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s budget (over total fiscal year 2026 funding, which includes funds from the reconciliation bill
enacted in July) to maintain and expand nuclear capabilities. The “skinny” budget documents released last week include many topline funding amounts as well as specific proposals that the administration seeks to call attention to, but they do not include comprehensive program-level numbers, which will be released at a later date.

In several cases, the cuts are similar to those the administration proposed last year, which Congress largely rejected
in its final budget for fiscal year 2026. Last year’s request similarly proposed deep cuts across NSF directorates, dozens of NASA Science mission cancellations, and eliminating funding for NOAA’s Office of Atmospheric Research.

The request reiterates AI and quantum as administration priorities, proposing using $1.2 billion from the Biden-era Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for DOE’s recently created
Office of AI and Quantum, which the request states will coordinate all DOE AI and quantum information science activities, including those related to the Genesis Mission.
The request also specifies that the funds would go to supercomputers
at Argonne and Oak Ridge National Labs. However, the request does not include funding for the American Science Cloud, which DOE calls
the “cornerstone of the Genesis Mission’s platform infrastructure.”

The proposed 80% cut to NIST is significantly larger than the 28% cut proposed last year. The request says it aims to eliminate awards for “the development of curricula that advance a radical climate agenda.” The request proposes reorganizing NIST lab programs and standards coordination programs into several more specific funding lines mainly centered around measurement and standards, as well as advanced manufacturing R&D, resilience and fire research, and neutron research.

Across the federal government, the request proposes eliminating funds and programs dedicated to minority-serving institutions and prohibiting funds for “expensive subscriptions to academic journals and prohibitively high publishing costs,” unless required by statute or with prior agency approval.

NSF, NIH lagging in awarding grants

The National Science Foundation has awarded just 613 grants
this fiscal year, at about 20% the level at this time in the year in each of fiscal years 2021 through 2024, according to the group Grant Witness. The amount of funding awarded is at similarly low levels, about one-third that of previous years. The trend is visible across each of NSF’s directorates. New and competitive award renewals, which undergo full peer review, are particularly low compared to previous years. The National Institutes of Health has seen a similar trend regarding its number of awards, having given out about 10,000 awards this year compared to around 18,000 at this time in previous years; total award funding is also down by a similar amount. NSF and NIH are even lagging behind fiscal year 2025, during which thousands of grants were canceled and fewer grants were awarded than in previous years.

Jefferson Lab to be run by old managers through new consortium

The Department of Energy has awarded
the management contract for Jefferson Lab to a group that includes the parent company of the previous contractor and several other organizations that have long been involved in the lab’s operation. The decision comes just over a year after DOE abruptly terminated
the lab manager search
that began under the Biden administration because “key elements” of the solicitation did not align with Trump’s executive orders, though the agency did not specify the relevant elements or orders. DOE restarted
its search soon after.

The awardee, SURATech, includes the Southeastern Universities Research Association, which built and has operated the lab since its start via its subsidiary Jefferson Science Associates, according to SURA’s website.
SURATech also includes Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and four major subcontractors. SURATech will assume operation of Jefferson Lab in June 2026 for at least five years, with potential to extend up to a total of 20 years, DOE’s press release states. Jefferson Lab presently focuses on nuclear physics but plans to become a multi-purpose lab in the coming years by constructing the High Performance Data Facility,
a major new user facility offering infrastructure for data-intensive science.

DOE’s Office of Inspector General recently released an audit
of Jefferson Science Associates’ costs from fiscal years 2019 and 2020, identifying two “deficiencies” related to cost and subcontract management and approximately $8.9 million in “unresolved costs.” OIG did not disclose the two recommendations it made to Jefferson Science Associates.

Also on our radar

• The NRC published a proposed rule
  last week that would allow reactor license applicants to reference a prior DOE or DOD authorization when demonstrating compliance with NRC regulations.
• DOE is seeking applications
  for research centers focused on regional, AI-supported studies of severe weather-related hazards that affect critical infrastructure.
• The Interior Department is offering further deferred resignations and early retirements to staff, E&E News reports.
  
• China surpassed
  the U.S. in gross domestic spending on R&D in 2024, according to the intergovernmental Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
• ARPA–E will host a conference
  Tuesday through Thursday featuring several policymakers, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright, DOE Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil, ARPA–E Director Conner Prochaska, and OSTP Associate Director Ethan Klein.
• NIH ended
  its continuous submission policy, which allowed grant reviewers to submit applications after the submission deadline had passed. Late applications from grant reviewers will now be considered for approval on a case-by-case basis.