Science Policy This Week: February 16, 2026

What’s Ahead

The NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft launch in 2018. — The 2018 launch of the NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences (GRACE) Follow-On spacecraft, one of the missions affected by NASA’s spending pause.

NASA / Bill Ingalls

NASA restricts spending for 17 programs

NASA is pausing new fiscal year 2026 spending on 17 science initiatives in anticipation of guidance from the White House Office of Management and Budget. The affected projects include major missions recommended by the latest decadal surveys for astrophysics, heliophysics, and planetary science. Some of the missions are ongoing, such as the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and GRACE Follow-On, while others are currently in development. NASA announced just two weeks ago that missions under the Earth System Explorers program were moving forward; that program is now one of the 17 affected by the pause.

The Trump administration proposed deep cuts to or zeroing out funding for almost all of these projects in the presidential budget request for fiscal year 2026, largely providing little explanation other than “to achieve cost savings.” NASA’s letter to its centers announcing the pause indicates that the White House may attempt to use OMB’s apportionment process to prevent the agency from spending further fiscal year 2026 funds on these projects. Jack Kiraly, director of government relations at the Planetary Society, said the pauses are “a new attempt to implement the PBR (presidential budget request) after it’s been rejected.” He also noted that some of the projects affected by the pause will not meet their prime mission until after the current administration.

Kiraly added that there is “a pretty significant response in Congress opposing this move.” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the ranking member on the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee, said the appropriations passed by Congress make it “crystal-clear that the Administration must continue efforts at Goddard and other centers that drive American space exploration. In choosing to ignore this, Russ Vought is breaking the law.” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the ranking member on the House Science Committee, said she is “very concerned” and hopes that NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman takes action to “prevent OMB from unlawfully cutting appropriated science programs.” Senate Democrats issued a report in September accusing the Trump administration of illegally restricting spending at NASA since early summer.

Court rejects challenge to Trump DEI orders

A federal appeals court has blocked an effort to stop the Trump administration from pursuing some of its anti-DEI objectives . Shortly after President Donald Trump took office for a second time, he issued two executive orders, one directing agencies to terminate all DEI-related grants, programs, and policies, and the other requiring all federal contractors to certify that they are in compliance with federal antidiscrimination laws. These orders were challenged by the American Association of University Professors and others and were briefly blocked by a district court in Baltimore. A few months later, however, that court’s injunction was stayed by the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and earlier this month, the court vacated the injunction.

Aaron Nisenson, senior counsel at AAUP, said the organization would “continue to fight to ensure that faculty and higher education institutions can advance diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in this case and elsewhere.” Nisenson added that the court’s decision “did not ratify the administration’s broad attack” on DEI, noting the court advised the plaintiffs they may launch a new challenge if the administration misinterprets existing anti-discrimination law. The Trump administration recently abandoned its appeal in a similar case challenging its efforts to withhold funding from schools and colleges that maintain programs the White House deems DEI-related.

New layoffs at the National Laboratory of the Rockies

At least 100 employees were laid off last week at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, previously known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The fired staff worked in research and operations roles, according to local news reports. The layoffs followed a 10% budget cut to the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which is a primary source of funding for the lab. A further 114 employees were laid off from the lab in May last year. The lab’s website says it employs nearly 4,000 people, though it is unclear if that number accounts for recent rounds of layoffs. Several Democratic members of Congress representing Colorado have spoken out against the layoffs.

Also on our radar

The EPA has repealed the Endangerment Finding — the scientific and legal determination that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health — paving the way for a broader dismantling of climate protections. The move has sparked widespread criticism from scientists and environmental groups and appears likely to trigger a major court battle.
DOE published the Genesis Mission Science and Technology Challenges last week, proposing using AI for physics reasoning, deploying nuclear energy, modeling fusion facilities and particle accelerators, discovering quantum algorithms, and more. The mission will also launch two supercomputers at national labs within months, Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil said.
Republicans on the House Science Committee are requesting briefings from science agencies on their safeguards against funding falsified and plagiarized research via “paper mills.”
NSF expects to transition NCAR’s Wyoming Supercomputing Center to a third-party operator, the agency announced last week. NSF continues to seek proposals from public and private entities to take over NCAR programs and infrastructure.
NSF announced $100 million for a network of up to 16 research facilities for quantum and nanoscale technologies and is seeking letters of intent from university sites.
DOE should develop a plan for the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to meet its statutory requirement to manage funding for clean energy projects, according to GAO. The report notes changes last year that reduced OCED’s oversight capacity, including “a significant decrease in its workforce.” House Science Democrats have raised concerns that DOE plans to eliminate OCED.
Many proposals for NSF’s prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program are being returned without review, including proposals in eligible fields for the program.
DOD moved to withdraw its appeal of a ruling blocking its efforts to impose 15% cap on indirect costs.
The Federal Judicial Center removed the climate science chapter of its reference manual following a complaint from a group of Republican state attorneys general. The manual is a major scientific resource for U.S. federal courts.