Trump fires National Science Board

President Donald Trump reportedly fired the entire National Science Board on Friday. Details are murky, as the White House has not formally announced the firings and news is trickling in from board members who have publicly spoken out about the termination emails they received. The board’s website remains unupdated, still showing its previous membership and a quarterly meeting scheduled for May 5. The National Science Foundation declined to comment and referred all questions to the White House, which did not respond to a request for details before publication.

The board is required by statute and has existed since the 1950s. It plays a major role in establishing NSF policy and advises Congress and the president on scientific issues. The 24 committee members are scientific experts who are selected by the president and serve 6-year terms in a part-time capacity. NSB Chair Victor McCrary and Vice Chair Aaron Dominguez were elected to lead the board last August after former NSB Chair Darío Gil left to lead the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. The board was scheduled to meet on April 16 to discuss its next election, but canceled that meeting and never rescheduled it.

The firings will likely add to the tumult at NSF. The foundation has been without a confirmed director since April 2025, has shed roughly a third of its staff since the start of 2025, and is currently transferring its operations from a custom-built office to a building a few blocks away. The White House proposed halving the agency’s budget last year and has made a similar proposal for the next budget cycle. The proposed cut would also reduce NSB’s budget from $5 million to $3 million.

The firings have drawn swift criticism from scientific societies and Democratic leaders. House Science Committee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) released a statement implying that Trump may seek to replace the board with “MAGA loyalists who won’t stand up to him.” Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) called the firings “a dangerous attack on the institutions and expertise that drive American innovation and discovery.” Association of American Universities President Barbara Snyder said the firings leave NSF “rudderless,” and the American Association for the Advancement of Science issued a statement calling the move “destabilizing.” The Association of Public Land-Grant Universities said it was “dismayed” by the firings. Union of Concerned Scientists CEO Gretchen Goldman criticized the firings as an “unseemly political maneuver” aimed at limiting independent science.

House CJS budget markup scheduled for this week

The House Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee will likely unveil its budget proposal for 2027 this week. The committee’s jurisdiction includes NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Commerce Department (which includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology). A markup of the bill is scheduled for Thursday, though a text has not been released as of publication. The committee has been allocated roughly $77 billion to distribute among the agencies under its jurisdiction.

Other notable appropriations bills for science are slated to receive mark-ups in their House subcommittees later in May. These include the Energy-Water bill, which covers the Energy Department; the Interior-Environment bill, which covers most of the Interior Department (including the U.S. Geological Survey) and the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Labor, Health, and Education bill, which covers the National Institutes of Health and the Education Department. The equivalent committees in the Senate have not announced a schedule.

Also on our radar

• OSTP Director Michael Kratsios posted on social media that the U.S. has evidence that foreign entities, mostly in China, are running “industrial-scale campaigns to steal American AI.” Rep. John Moolenar (R-MI), who chairs the House Select Committee on the CCP, echoed Kratsios’ concerns in a press release, urging Congress to pass legislation that will modernize export controls and restrict China’s access to American technology.
• A petition calling on the International Congress of Mathematicians to move its July conference in Philadelphia outside the U.S. has garnered thousands of signatories.
• A proposed NRC rule on nuclear radiation safety requirements was planned to be published on Thursday, but has been delayed. The current planned publication date is June 18.
• NIH recently updated its Grants Policy Statement and last week announced it is adjusting the implementation timeline for some of its new Common Form requirements. The agency said the requirements would be fully incorporated into the next Grants Policy Statement.
• NIH’s small business program is preparing to launch new funding opportunities for small businesses following the reauthorization of the STTR and SBIR programs, with some tweaks to foreign disclosure and risk management requirements.
• Republican leaders on the House Energy-Water and Interior-Environment appropriations subcommittees previewed some of their upcoming budget priorities for nuclear energy and research in op-eds published last week.

---

Your support keeps our community informed on the latest science policy news.

---

---

All events are Eastern Time unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement. Events beyond this week are listed on our website.

Monday, April 27

UCAR: Space Weather Workshop (continues through Friday)

House: NASA budget request hearing
3:30 pm, Appropriations Committee

Senate: Testimony on DOD missile defense activities for FY27
3:30 pm, Armed Services Committee

House: EPA budget request hearing
4:00 pm, Appropriations Committee

Tuesday, April 28

House: NOAA budget request hearing
9:00 am, Appropriations Committee

Senate: NASA budget request hearing
10:00 am, Appropriations Committee

House: EPA budget request hearing
10:00 am, Energy and Commerce Committee

House: Leveling Down: How Equity Policies Undermine Excellence and Harm Students
10:15 am, Education and Workforce Committee

NSF Secure Center: SPARK Webinar: Research Security by Design
1:30 pm

Wednesday, April 29

Senate: Department of the Interior budget request hearing
9:30 am, Energy and Natural Resources Committee

House: Orbits of Influence: Emerging Threats to U.S. Space Security and Foreign Policy Implications
10:00 am, Foreign Affairs Committee

House: Department of Defense budget request hearing
10:00 am, Armed Services Committee

House: Speech or Silence? The Future of the First Amendment in Higher Education
10:15 am, Education and Workforce Committee

Senate: NNSA budget request hearing
2:30 pm, Appropriations Committee

Senate: EPA budget request hearing
2:30 pm, Environment and Public Works Committee

Senate: Unmasked: How Biden health officials turned a blind eye toward COVID-19 vaccine safety signals
2:30 pm, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

NSF: Research security-related proposals webinar
4:00 - 5:30 pm

Thursday, April 30

National Academies: Space Technology Industry-Government-University Roundtable meeting
8:00 am - 4:00 pm

House: Markup of the FY27 Commerce-Justice-Science bill
8:00 am, Appropriations Committee

House: US Air Force and Space Force budget request hearing
9:30 am, Appropriations Committee

ITIF: Strengthening America’s edge in priority technologies of the 21st century
1:00 - 2:00 pm

CSIS: Advancing the Texas Advanced Packaging Ecosystem
2:00 - 6:00 pm

Friday, May 1

No events.

Monday, May 4

No events.

---

Deadlines indicated in parentheses. Newly added opportunities are marked with a diamond.

Job Openings

FAS: Senior manager, climate tech and innovation (ongoing)
APLU: Assistant vice president for governmental affairs (ongoing)
APS: Chief marketing and communications officer (ongoing)
AIP: Director of science policy news (ongoing)
Science Philanthropy Alliance: Civic science fellow (ongoing)
FAS: Congressional fellowship (April 30)
DOE: Attorney-adviser, Office of Energy Dominance Financing (April 30)
DOE: Associate assistant deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation R&D (May 4)
DOD: Science adviser, Office of Naval Research (May 7)
AAS: Editor in Chief (May 11)
◆DOE: Associate director, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (May 11)
DOE: Associate director for finance and budget officer, ARPA–E (May 18)
Monmouth University: Director, Urban Coast Institute (May 18)
ANS: Congressional science and engineering fellowship (June 5)

Solicitations

Census Bureau: RFC on Survey of State Government Research and Development (May 1)
ANS: Nominations for 40 Under 40, Nuclear News (May 1)
NRC: RFC on proposed rule on NRC reviews of reactor designs previously authorized by DOE or DOD (May 4)
NSF: RFC on renewal of the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (May 8)
NSF: RFC on Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (May 8)
House Appropriations Committee: Call to submit written testimony on FY27 science budget (May 8)
NSF: RFC on Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) program (May 8)
FCC: RFC on Spectrum Abundance for Weird Space Stuff proposed rule (May 11)
NOAA: Solicitation of nominations for membership on the Ocean Research Advisory Panel (May 14)
NIST: RFC on CHIPS Workforce Solution participant data collection (May 18)
NASA: RFC on NASA Front Door (May 19)
NIH: RFC on NIH-wide strategic plan for fiscal years 2027-2031 (May 26)
NRC: RFC on regulation of byproduct material associated with fusion machines (May 27)

Know of an opportunity for scientists to engage in science policy? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

---

Do you have a story to tell about how science policy is impacting you?

AIP’s research team is gathering first-hand accounts from scientists, engineers, students, and staff whose careers have been affected by policy and funding changes over the past year. Volunteers can submit their stories via this online form. Participants’ stories will be added to the Niels Bohr Library & Archives digital repository as searchable, citable records — with options for anonymity and a five-year embargo period. Read more about the initiative here.

---

---

News and views currently in circulation. Links do not imply endorsement.

White House

White House: Memorandum on upgrading energy infrastructure as a national security priority
The Hill: National Science Foundation’s future in limbo as Trump eyes cuts
Scientific American: Trump wants Iran’s ‘nuclear dust.’ Here’s how the US could remove the uranium

Congress

E&E News: Senate Republicans launch latest reconciliation push
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD): Van Hollen, colleagues file amicus brief urging reinstatement of Merit Systems Protection Board member
AAU: AAU, associations ask lawmakers to appropriate $9 billion for NASA science in FY27
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA): Padilla and colleagues lead calls for Mars exploration funding in NASA appropriations bill
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA): House Republicans are cutting red tape, burdensome regulations to reestablish American energy dominance

Science, Society, and the Economy

Scientific American: FBI investigating possible links between deaths and disappearances of at least 10 scientists
The Atlantic: The single dumbest conspiracy theory of 2026 (perspective by Daniel Engber)
NSF: Increasing domestic critical minerals supplies (audio)
The Economist: Scientists are still learning from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster
Nature: Academics demand apology for scientist investigated for China ties but never charged
Nature: Delays have kept new NSF grants to a trickle — that could be about to change
Nature: Meeting the moment: How scientific philanthropies are expanding their reach
Nature: What 6,000 researchers think about the future of science
Ars Technica: Physicists think they’ve solved the muon mystery

Education and Workforce

Inside Higher Ed: DOJ extends web accessibility deadline
Inside Higher Ed: Tenn. Passes ‘Charlie Kirk Act’ defending campus speakers from disruption
Inside Higher Ed: ‘We need a NATO for universities’
Chronicle of Higher Education: Colleges were sweating a major compliance deadline. Now the Justice Dept. has delayed it.
Nature: Thousands of Harvard graduate students strike — bringing research to a halt

Research Management

Nature: Closure of China’s influential journal ranking leaves academics reeling — what will take its place?
Scholarly Kitchen: Can peer review keep up? Announcing the theme for Peer Review Week 2026 (perspective by Maryam Sayab et al.)
Nature: We need to talk about failure in science (perspective)
Scholarly Kitchen: Academic publishing in the age of AI: From content to trust (perspective by Ashutosh Ghildiyal et al.)
Scholarly Kitchen: Moving from identifier to identity for researchers (perspective by Tim Lloyd)
Chemical & Engineering News: Sci-Hub has created a new AI chatbot. Is it any good?

Labs and Facilities

Fermilab: Fermilab’s new director clarifies mission and achieves progress in first 100 days
DOE: Office of Science ASCR leadership update
Lawrence Livermore National Lab: Early-career researchers show off science and communication skills at 2026 National Lab Research SLAM
Nature: Keeping the ‘fairy tale’ of the Marine Biological Laboratory alive
CERN: HiLumi LHC: CERN’s full-scale test stand enters the powering phase

Computing and Communications

HPCwire: Oklo, NVIDIA, and LANL advance nuclear fuel R&D and AI modeling for Los Alamos projects
HPCwire: ORNL’s Frontier supercomputer trains AI to model cosmic storms
Physics World: Why patents are so vital for the quantum economy (perspective by Mark Saunders)

Space

NASA Watch: Over 100 former NASA astronauts launch “astronauts for America” to uphold the Constitution
NASA: NASA on track for future missions with initial Artemis II assessments
SpaceNews: Artemis spacesuit development risks further delays
NASA: NASA welcomes Latvia as newest Artemis Accords signatory
SpaceNews: NASA sets early September launch date for Roman Space Telescope
The Atlantic: Elon Musk is taking the X playbook to Starlink

Weather, Climate, and Environment

E&E News: USDA announces relocations for research staff
E&E News: Zeldin picks leader for EPA’s new science office
Chemical & Engineering News: Chemical firms and researchers outline policies to boost green chemistry
New York Times: How the Supreme Court’s shadow docket upended climate policy
New York Times: Judge halts Trump actions that have slowed renewable energy

Energy

American Nuclear Society: DOE secretary testifies on FY 2027 budget
Fusion Industry Association: US presidential budget request for fusion falls short (perspective)
American Nuclear Society: DOE turns to private sector to build out spent nuclear fuel recycling
E&E News: DOE to issue Biden-era project awards after high-level review
E&E News: Supreme Court seems unlikely to curb energy enforcement through FCC fight
American Nuclear Society: NRC reorganization update: Changes will begin this summer
E&E News: ‘Not under attack’: NRC chair dismisses claims of Trump interference
American Nuclear Society: Idaho to receive spent TRIGA fuel from Penn State

Defense

Inside Defense: Two House authorizers skeptical of Defense budget’s reliance on reconciliation
Politico: Judge rejects DOJ bid to delay Anthropic appeal in Pentagon dispute
Ars Technica: Pentagon pulls the plug on one of the military’s most troubled space programs
Ars Technica: US Space Command: Russia is now operationalizing co-orbital ASAT weapons
Breaking Defense: Department of Air Force picks bidders for nuclear microreactors, assigns locations
DefenseScoop: DOD moves to make its largest-ever investment in drones and anti-drone weapons

Biomedical

Stat: Key GOP senators push back on Trump’s plan to cut NIH, reorganize HHS
Stat: Across 7 hearings, RFK Jr. talks a new, more moderate MAHA
NIH: Jonathan Green selected as CEO of the NIH Clinical Center
Stat: The CDC’s ‘disease detective’ program turns 75 (perspective by Eric Chow et al.)

International Affairs

Physics World: Researchers express ‘grave concern’ over attacks on Iranian institutions and science
The Conversation: China surpasses US in research spending – the consequences extend far beyond scientific ranking and clout (perspective by Caroline Wagner)
Science|Business: AI in science: Europe seeks to balance sovereignty with progress
Science|Business: Europe should turn researcher mobility into a development strategy (perspective by Gregor Majdič)
University World News: Africa research charter: Governments urged to show support