Report Shows National Academies Spending Drop as Trump Threatens Funding

The National Academy of Sciences cut back spending on federally sponsored studies in 2025, according to a financial report the Academy released July 31. The reductions came as the Trump administration canceled science grants and promoted spending cuts at federal science agencies.

Congress chartered NAS, along with the National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Engineering, to provide the US with top scientific expertise. The Academies run hundreds of study committees that produce reports and provide guidance on pressing issues related to public policy. But the organization faced headwinds in 2025, losing dozens of federal contracts.

In recent months, President Donald Trump and other Republican lawmakers have proposed halting federal funding for the National Academies altogether, alleging conflicts of interest on some of the organization’s climate science panels.

The Academies are now seeking guidance on engaging with the congressional and executive branches on science and technology, according to a NASEM spokesperson. Earlier this month, they hired the lobbying firm HB Strategies, which is led by former Republican senator Roy Blunt. Blunt served as chair of the appropriations subcommittee overseeing the National Institutes of Health.

Even before the funding threats began, the July report shows that NAS saw a decline in research-related spending and activity during the second Trump administration. At the National Research Council, NAS’ operating arm, spending fell from $205 million to $189 million from 2024 to 2025, an 8% drop. NRC’s direct work, which includes expenses such as committee meetings and staff pay, fell by 14%. In contrast, flow-through activity, which primarily redirects funds outside the organization, like grant and fellowship programs, increased by 12%.

NRC’s direct work is principally supported by the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Department of Energy, the report states. NRC spent significantly less money from NSF and NASA in 2025 compared to the previous year: 27% less from NSF and 20% less from NASA. That spending last hit similar lows in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID pandemic. But spending of Department of Energy funds increased 10%, the greatest single-year increase from DOE since 2016.

The Academies spokesperson said the decrease in NRC spending “should not be interpreted as a measure of either federal awards that were terminated or the number or value of new federal awards received during the year.” Federal awards often support work over multiple years, so spending in a given year may reflect prior-year awards, the spokesperson added.

Despite lower federal revenue, NAS reported a budget surplus of $3.6 million in 2025, with higher revenues and lower expenses than in 2024. NAS increased membership dues during 2025, making almost four times as much from dues as in 2024. The organization also saw an increase in annual donations and implemented “disciplined cost management measures including staffing adjustments, a hiring freeze, and targeted expense controls” to keep costs down, the July report states. Science reported late last year that the NRC lost more than 50 federal contracts. In response, it cut staff from 1,200 down to 1,000 and consolidated its five program divisions covering various areas of science into two new centers with fewer boards and committees.

Ruth Schwartz Cowan, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and co-author of a forthcoming history of the NAS, called the scale of NRC contract cancellations under the second Trump administration “unprecedented.”

Even NRC activities that are largely funded by private philanthropy have been impacted by overall cutbacks, including staff shortages, said Randy Schekman, the chair of an ongoing NAS consensus study. “The Academy leadership tried to keep a low profile so as to not inflame the antagonism of the Trump administration,” Schekman said. “Sadly, this did nothing to limit the attacks on science we have seen from Trump, his administration, and the majority of the Republican members of Congress.”