President Trump’s proposed 2026 budget, released today, slashes non-defense discretionary spending by $163 billion, a 22.6% reduction from 2025.
science policy
Posted inResearch & Developments
NSF Stops New and Existing Grants
The National Science Foundation (NSF), one of the world’s leading funders of basic research, will “stop awarding all funding actions,” including awarding new grants and disbursing funds for existing grants, according to Nature.
Staff at NSF were told of the policy change in a 30 April email. The email did not give a reason for the funding freeze and did not say whether or when the agency would resume awarding funding.
Posted inResearch & Developments
EPA to Cancel Nearly 800 Environmental Justice Grants
The EPA plans to cancel 781 grants, almost all focused on environmental justice, according to a court document filed last week.
In Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council v. Department of Agriculture, a coalition of nonprofits is challenging the Trump administration’s freezing of funding from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In the recent court document, Daniel Coogan, an administrator in the Office of Mission Support for the EPA, stated that the agency completed a grant-by-grant review of its awards to ensure that grants aligned with administration priorities. Those that were not aligned were targeted for termination.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Mexico Will Give U.S. More Water to Avert More Tariffs
Mexican and U.S. officials announced that Mexico will immediately transfer some of its water reserves to the United States and also allow a larger share of the Rio Grande River to flow into the United States.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Trump Moves to Allow Seabed Mining in International Waters
A new executive order aims to establish the United States “as a global leader in seabed mineral exploration and development both within and beyond national jurisdiction.”
Posted inResearch & Developments
EPA Staff Slashed on the Eve of Earth Day
On 21 April, the Environmental Protection Agency notified hundreds of employees working on diversity, equity, and inclusion and environmental justice issues that they would be fired or reassigned to other positions.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Tracking Science Policy Decisions and Approaches
The new administration has taken an array of decisive actions with far-reaching consequences for Earth and space scientists. Use our new tool to help sort them out.
Posted inResearch & Developments
NSF Cancels Hundreds of DEI and Disinformation Grants
The National Science Foundation has cancelled hundreds of grants to researchers working on projects related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as misinformation and disinformation.
Posted inResearch & Developments
NOAA Datasets Will Soon Disappear
NOAA has quietly reported that they will soon decommission 14 datasets, products, and catalogs related to earthquakes and marine, coastal, and estuary science.
Posted inResearch & Developments
NASA Science Faces an “Extinction-Level Event” with Trump Draft Budget Proposal
The initial draft of President Donald Trump’s budget request proposes devastating cuts to NASA’s science research, future space missions, and field centers.