Science policy this week: July 28, 2025

What’s Ahead

Workers tend to a wind turbine at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Distributed Integrated Energy Laboratory. — Workers tend to a wind turbine at the National Renewable Energy Lab’s Distributed Integrated Energy Lab.

Bryan Bechtold / NREL

National labs brace for layoffs

Some of the Department of Energy’s national labs have begun laying off “a significant number” of employees, and other labs have warned of potential layoffs, according to a letter from California Democrats to the Trump administration. According to E&E News, national lab officials are considering laying off more than 3,000 scientists and staff, including more than 1,000 at the National Renewable Energy Lab and some at Berkeley Lab. These workforce cuts are a direct result of the president’s proposed budget cuts for the upcoming fiscal year and DOE’s “unlawful reprogramming” of funds from wind and solar to water and geothermal programs in the current fiscal year, the letter adds. Congress enacted $318 million for solar initiatives for fiscal year 2024, but DOE plans to spend $42 million on them in fiscal year 2025, representing an 87% cut. Wind energy initiatives will similarly see a 78% cut. The letter urges the administration to reconsider its proposals for the labs, highlighting how DOE Secretary Chris Wright told senators in June that he is “very open to expanding the lab budget back a little bit from where the current proposal is.”

NSF, NASA employees protest changes under Trump

Hundreds of employees at the National Science Foundation and NASA signed onto letters issued last week that protest policy changes since the start of the Trump administration, including workforce reductions and grant terminations. NSF has lost one-third of its staff since the start of the Trump administration, said Jesus Soriano, a program officer at NSF and president of the union that represents the agency, at a press conference with the top Democrat on the House Science Committee. The NASA letter states that thousands of its civil servants have been terminated, resigned, or retired early, “taking with them highly specialized, irreplaceable knowledge.” Both letters also indicate that the administration has interfered with congressionally appropriated funding, stating that the White House is withholding $2.2 billion from NSF while NASA is closing out missions despite appropriated funding for fiscal year 2025. The NSF letter also highlights the administration’s plans to fire staff in the Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM through reductions in force and remove NSF from its current headquarters.

NSF employees sent the letter directly to House Science Democrats as an official whistleblower complaint to protect the signers from retaliation, according to a Democratic press release. The dissent letter from employees at the Environmental Protection Agency resulted in over 100 signers being placed on administrative leave earlier this month. Employees at the National Institutes of Health also published a dissent letter last month, and signers met with agency Director Jay Bhattacharya last week. The NASA, NIH, and EPA letters are hosted online by the advocacy organization Stand Up for Science.

Senate advancing DOD, NIH budget bills as recess looms

The Senate Appropriations Committee will meet on Thursday to advance its spending proposals for the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health, among other agencies. So far, the Senate has secured bipartisan support for its spending proposals, but House Republicans have advanced their proposals without Democratic support, and appropriators have little time remaining to negotiate a compromise agreement. The Senate is currently scheduled to be in recess from Aug. 4 until Sept. 1, and it is unclear if the Senate will release its spending proposal for the Department of Energy before the recess. The House went on recess last week ahead of schedule, canceling plans to advance the Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations bill and leaving without offering its proposal for NIH. Fiscal year 2026 begins at the end of September. Both chambers did advance their spending bill for the U.S. Geological Survey out of committee last week: the Senate proposes a 2% increase for USGS and the House proposes a 6% cut, compared to the 39% cut in the president’s budget request.

Antarctic harassment report calls for new contractor standards

The National Science Foundation will hold informational sessions this week on its recently released report on sexual assault and harassment in the U.S. Antarctic Program. The report draws on a survey that NSF conducted in 2024, following up on a 2021 survey conducted in the wake of high-profile accusations of sexual violence at USAP facilities. The report recommends installing video monitoring in public spaces, improving training for supervisors, and increasing protections for newer and younger staff. The report also recommends introducing “benchmark standards” for USAP contractors and requiring increased training for their human resources personnel. NSF is currently reviewing proposals for a new primary contractor to manage its Antarctic facilities. Congressmembers have accused Leidos, the current holder of the USAP facilities management contract, of failing to prevent sexual violence and lacking basic reporting systems.

The report states that the 2024 survey of recent USAP personnel found that 69% of respondents had observed at least one incident of sexual assault or harassment, and 41% had experienced at least one such incident themselves. The survey also found “concerning beliefs that may be associated with a permissive environment for SA/SH,” including that 43% of respondents said they agree that “sexual jokes and innuendos are a normal part of deployment within the USAP community” and 10% agreed with the statement: “if you want to date/hookup with a USAP community member, it’s ok to keep asking until they agree to a date or very definitively say no.” The report recommends launching a media campaign aimed at correcting these attitudes and informing staff of reporting procedures.

Also on our radar

The Trump administration released an AI Action Plan last week that includes a focus on using AI to accelerate scientific research. Other priorities in the plan include exporting American AI technologies, promoting the buildout of data centers, and pushing for large language models to be ideologically neutral.
Two DOE national labs announced leadership changes last week. Jud Virden was appointed to lead the National Renewable Energy Lab starting October 2025, and Mike Witherell will retire as director of Berkeley Lab in June 2026.
NASA announced last week that Makenzie Lystrup will step down as director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on Aug. 1. Cynthia Simmons, who is the current deputy center director, will serve as acting center director.
Fourteen Republican senators have asked the White House for “timely release of all FY25 NIH appropriations,” citing “slow disbursement.”
The National Science Board released a report last week highlighting the rise of China’s science enterprise and the U.S. business sector’s large role in conducting R&D.
Spain has offered to spend up to €400 million to host the Thirty Meter Telescope on La Palma in the Canary Islands, which has long been considered a potential alternative location should construction in Hawaii not be possible. In a statement on the offer, TMT said, “No decision has been made about TMT’s future at our primary site in Hawaii.”