President Joe Biden released his budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2025 on Monday, once again calling for major investments in climate change, scientific research, and conservation. The budget framework proposes boosts for most federal research agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The $7.3 trillion budget proposal includes $1.7 trillion in discretionary spending for FY 2025. No-tably, the plan proposes tax increases for wealthy individuals and large corporations that are ex-pected to cut deficits by $3 trillion over the next decade.
In total, $202 billion would be directed to Federal research and development activities, a $2 billion increase over FY 2023. The budget outline includes $4.5 billion for climate research, $10.7 billion for clean energy innovation, and $3.4 billion for Cancer Moonshot related research investments. It would provide roughly $20 billion in discretionary spending for the science agencies authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act, namely NSF, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The plan requests $900 million, a 35 percent boost compared to FY 2023, for the new Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships at NSF.
Some key items related to science in the budget request are described below. The percentages listed are relative to FY 2024, unless otherwise noted (FY 2024 final enacted levels are not yet available for certain agencies).
- The President requests a total of $10.2 billion for NSF in FY 2025, a 12 percent increase compared to the total enacted budget of $9.1 billion for the agency in FY 2024. The research account would also grow by 12 percent to roughly $8 billion. The request falls significantly short of the CHIPS and Science Act authorization of $16.7 billion for the science agency in FY 2025.
- The request includes $6.6 billion for NOAA, 3.8 percent more than the FY 2024 enacted level.
- The Administration requests $25.4 billion for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), an increase of 2 percent. NASA’s Earth Science division would grow by roughly 8 percent to $2.4 billion.
- NIST would see a 2.6 percent bump to $1.5 billion overall. Its Scientific and Technical Research and Services account would receive an almost 10 percent cut to $975 million, while its construction account would see its budget expand by 85 percent.
- The Department of the Interior would receive a total of $18 billion. USGS is slated to receive $1.6 billion, an increase of 8 percent. This includes $326 million for Ecosystems Mission Area, an increase of $27 million or 9 percent relative to FY 2024. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would receive $1.9 billion in discretionary spending, an increase of 9.5 percent. The National Park Service would be funded at $3.6 billion, an increase of 7.5 percent. The Bureau of Land Management would receive a boost of 10 percent to $1.5 billion.
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) would get $50.2 billion in FY 2025, a roughly 6 percent increase over FY 2023. Most of this increase would go to the National Cancer Institute.
- Budget for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) would remain flat at $1.5 billion compared to its FY 2023 budget.
- EPA’s budget would get a significant bump of 20 percent to nearly $11 billion in FY 2025, with its Science and Technology account expanding by 33 percent to $1 billion.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture would receive a discretionary budget of $31.6 billion. This includes a total of more than $4 billion (+$250 million) for agricultural research, education, and outreach. The Agricultural Research Service would see its budget shrink by 3.3 percent to $1.8 billion, while the National Institute of Food and Agriculture would receive a 3.5 percent boost to $1.7 billion. The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative would grow by 7 percent to $475 million.
- DOE would receive $51.4 billion in FY 2025. Of this total, $8.6 billion (+4 percent) is requested for the DOE Office of Science, with Biological and Environmental Research slated to receive $945 million (+5 percent).
- The Administration requests $1.16 billion for the Smithsonian Institution, a 6.4 percent increase over FY 2024 enacted levels. The salaries account for the National Museum of Natural History would also grow by 6.4 percent to $59 million.
- The Institute of Museum and Library Services would receive $280 million, a decrease of roughly $15 million compared to FY 2023 enacted levels. Of this total, $47 million would be directed to its Office of Museum Services, a decrease of 8.5 million relative to FY 2023.
The President’s budget request is meant to serve as a starting point for congressional debate on ap-propriations, with the final decisions about spending levels resting with lawmakers. Although President Biden’s FY 2025 proposal is not expected to pass in the House, it provides useful in-sights into his plans and priorities for a second term.
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