The Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF)—an alliance of more than 140 professional organizations, scientific societies, universities, and businesses that advocate for the National Science Foundation (NSF)—has called on congressional appropriators to fund NSF at the highest possible level in fiscal year (FY) 2026. AIBS is a member of CNSF.
The letter reads in part: “We understand the difficult fiscal climate and appreciate the rejection of the massive cuts proposed for NSF in the budget request in the proposed FY 26 bills. We hope you will support the higher level of funding represented in the Senate bill. Cuts to NSF would be devastating to the U.S. innovation ecosystem and national security. The budget request notes that at the proposed level, NSF would impact 240,000 fewer people than it did in FY 2024 and make over 7,000 fewer awards. At this level of funding, whole fields could disappear, many students would give up on STEM, and our innovation ecosystem would lose future discoveries and the workforce that it needs to thrive. Even cuts at the House level would result in dramatic rollbacks of many critical areas of research.”
The letter also expresses concerns about substantial cuts in both bills for the Directorate for STEM Education and requests that any short-term continuing resolution protect NSF from irreversible cuts and actions until Congress has a chance to finalize FY 2026 appropriations.
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