AIBS has provided testimony to the House Appropriations Committee urging Congress to reject the steep cuts to science proposed in the President’s budget request and instead provide the National Science Foundation (NSF) with at least $9.9 billion in FY 2027.
The testimony reads, in part: “Providing NSF with at least $9.9 billion in FY 2027 is necessary to reverse years of underinvestment in research. This funding would strengthen and expand the U.S. bioeconomy while enabling NSF to accelerate work at the frontiers of science and engineering, including strategic priorities such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and advanced biomanufacturing. It would also support critical research on infectious diseases and pandemics, closing key knowledge gaps regarding the spread and evolution of biological threats.”
NSF received an 8% budget cut in FY 2024, flat funding in FY 2025, and a 3.4% cut in FY 2026 — well below the targets established under the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. AIBS urged Congress to reject the 55% budget cut for NSF and plan to dismantle the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate proposed in the President’s budget and instead restore the agency to its FY 2023 funding level, reaffirming our national commitment to scientific excellence.
“To remain at the global forefront of innovation and to fully realize the benefits of NSF-supported research, the government must make bold and sustained investments in NSF,” AIBS argued. “Unpredictability in funding disrupts research programs, creates uncertainty in the research community, and stalls the development of the next great idea. Enacting robust funding increases for NSF will allow for critical federal investments in scientific research, education, and the STEM workforce pipeline, especially as the agency undergoes a major reorganization.”
Read the testimony submitted to House appropriators. A similar letter will be submitted to the Senate.
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