The National Science Foundation withheld $1.4 billion that Congress had intended for research over the past year, according to internal data reviewed by The New York Times. The move — holding back about one-fifth of the N.S.F.’s primary research budget — is the latest sign of how the Trump administration is finding creative ways to work around Congress. Lawmakers from both parties have consistently opposed White House-led proposals to cut funding to major science agencies like the N.S.F. and the National Institutes of Health.
Since the N.S.F. was founded over 75 years ago, the agency has spent nearly all its budget on basic research, leading to advances such as M.R.I.s, semiconductors and the internet. The White House wants to redirect the money to priorities including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, according to two people with knowledge of the plans. Congress appropriates money on two-year cycles, so the agency could still spend the held-over money in the new fiscal year.
Democratic lawmakers see the strategy as a political power grab. Representative Zoe Lofgren of California called it “a dramatic attack on the science enterprise.” The White House and N.S.F. said diverting funds is allowed under Congress’s two-year appropriation. Mike England, a spokesman, said the agency “carried over funds to invest in agency priorities that are aligned with broader administration initiatives.”
The administration previously fired the N.S.F.’s independent oversight board and has canceled or delayed thousands of grants. The plan was reported earlier by Nature. Several people described confusion inside the agency as staff complied with guidance to carry over money.
Source: New York Times Top Stories · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing