US science has taken another serious hit, with fresh cuts at the National Science Foundation, the federal agency behind roughly $9 billion in research funding. Last Friday, all 22 members of the National Science Board were fired. The board had been responsible for overseeing the agency’s major decisions and spending priorities.
The NSF has also been without a director since April 2025, when Sethuraman Panchanathan stepped down after DOGE-led funding cuts and mass firings. Trump’s nominee for the job is Jim O’Neill, an investor and longevity advocate with no science background.
The long-term impact on science is still unclear, but the outlook is poor.
Created in 1950 to promote the progress of science, the NSF has long been one of the main federal backers of research and education. In 2024, it spent $9.39 billion, which is a large amount in absolute terms, but still only 0.1% of total federal spending.
The National Science Board has traditionally made key decisions about how that money is used. Until last week, its members were presidential appointees serving six-year terms. According to Keivan Stassun, a physicist and astronomer at Vanderbilt University who joined the board in late 2022, the board was responsible for setting NSF policy, approving major spending, and providing oversight.
In recent years, the board approved the creation of a new directorate focused on technology, innovation, and partnerships. It also authorized funding for the US Extremely Large Telescope Program.
“It’s a relatively small group with a tremendous amount of responsibility and authority,” Stassun said. He described joining the board as a major honor.
Then, last Friday, he received an email saying his position had been terminated effective immediately on behalf of President Trump. He said the message was deeply disappointing, though not entirely surprising given the administration’s actions across federal science agencies over the past year.
Since Trump returned to office in early 2025, the NSF and other federal agencies have frozen, unfrozen, and terminated grants. Stassun said the board had no role in those terminations, and also had no say in agency staff firings. He added that NSF staffing is now down 40%.
In its 2026 budget request, the Trump administration proposed cutting the NSF budget by about 57%. Last summer, NSF staff wrote a dissent letter warning that such deep cuts would cripple American science. The proposed reductions would have especially affected biological sciences, engineering, and STEM education.
Congress rejected those cuts earlier this year. But according to Stassun, grant terminations and staffing cuts are effectively making them happen anyway, since the White House has been sending the agency far less money than Congress intended.
As a result, several major research efforts are slowing or stopping. Stassun said the Extremely Large Telescope Program appears to be dead in the water for now, and the NSF division focused on science education has effectively been reduced to zero.
Not every area is facing the same treatment. The administration’s 2027 budget request says the NSF will close out its directorate for social, behavioral, and economic sciences, while AI and quantum information science are described as frontier initiatives. Biotechnology is also identified as a focal point.
When asked for comment, the NSF referred questions to the White House press office. The White House did not directly answer questions about the firing of National Science Board members and said only that the National Science Foundation’s work continues uninterrupted.
Jim O’Neill, Trump’s current pick for NSF director, has shown strong interest in biotechnology. In a conversation earlier this year, he said he considers himself a Vitalist, meaning he supports efforts to extend human longevity and believes death is wrong.
O’Neill previously served as deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before a leadership shakeup a few months ago. He is not a scientist, and that has raised concerns among researchers. He has not yet been confirmed by the Senate.
For now, the administration’s actions are already affecting research on the ground. Stassun said board members tried to defend continued investment in science, engineering, technology, and science education, but the agency is now likely to operate without any governing body standing in the way.
