On April 30, the House Appropriations Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the National Science Foundation (NSF) met to discuss its Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Bill. Similar to last year, the bill recommends $7 billion for NSF. This is significantly more than the President’s Budget Request (PBR); Trump sought just $4 billion for NSF (see FABBS article), reflecting a 50 percent cut. While the subcommittee’s recommendation is significantly higher than the PBR, it is nonetheless a 20 percent decrease from last year’s enacted level of $8.75 billion.
Despite the recent removal of the National Science Board (NSB) (see FABBS reporting), the bill increases the board’s budget by $50,000. Like last year, the bill appears to move the Directorate for STEM Education (STEM EDU) into Research and Related Activities (R&RA), masking a significant cut to the R&RA account.
During the hearing, Chairmen Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Tom Cole (R-OK) spoke in favor of the bill and about the importance of investing in American science, while Ranking Members Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Grace Meng (D-NY) highlighted the importance of NSF and other agencies in the bill, opposing the proposed cuts.
Democrats on the subcommittee expressed a range of concerns about the bill, all cautioning against decreasing funding to the NSF, with Joe Morelle (D-NY), calling the agency “one of the country’s most important engines for scientific discovery and innovation.” Morelle and colleagues raised concerns about the U.S.’s ability to maintain global scientific leadership. Republicans were mainly silent on the bill, with only Andrew Clyde (R-GA) talking about the bill’s success in preserving individual rights to own guns.
Report language, which includes information on individual programs within each agency, along with congressional directives, will not be released until shortly before the full Appropriations Committee takes up the bill on May 13. Last year, the equivalent Senate committee proposed a high water level of $9.06 billion for NSF. The final spending bill of $8.75 billion was eventually signed into law.
