The Trump administration fired all 22 members of an independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF), according to ex-board members and federal officials.
According to The Guardian, members of the National Science Board received an email over the weekend “on behalf of President Donald J Trump” from the Presidential Personnel Office informing them that their role was “terminated, effective immediately.”
“I think this is one more indication of the sweeping changes that the administration has in mind for the NSF,” Yolanda Gil, a terminated member and scientist at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California, said.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the leading Democrat on the Senate committee on commerce, science, and transportation, called the decision “a dangerous attack on the institutions and expertise that drive American innovation and discovery.”
The NSF spent more than $8 billion on scientific research and education in 2025, making it one of the largest individual funders of science globally, Al Jazeera reported.
Trump Administration's Prior Cuts to NSF
Under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a state agency established with the aid of tech billionaire Elon Musk at the beginning of President Trump’s second term, the NSF lost more than 1,600 grants worth roughly $1 billion in 2025.
According to Congress.gov, the Trump administration also sought to reduce the NSF’s $9.6 billion budget to $3.9 billion in Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) – a 56.9% decrease from 2025.
Congress helped maintain the science foundation’s funding, providing a total of $9 billion for FY26 – a 0.7% reduction.
Dismissed board member, American physicist, and astronomer at Vanderbilt University, Keivan Stassun, warned that without an advisory board, the Trump administration can administer funding cuts more easily.
NSF's Purpose
Established in 1950, the NSF promotes “the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense; and for other purposes,” according to the NSF Act.
“It is also responsible for significant shares of the federal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education portfolio of programs that support STEM learning and STEM-education-related research,” Congress.gov states.
