By Kritika Agarwal
President Trump’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year (FY27) once again proposes steep cuts to scientific research and education programs across the federal government. If enacted, these reductions would significantly undermine America’s capacity to conduct groundbreaking research, train the next generation of scientists and engineers, and keep up with competitor and adversary nations in emerging technologies critical to national and economic security.
Overall, the president’s budget proposes cuts to non-defense funding by $73 billion, or 10%, and increases funding for defense by $445 billion, or 42%. Here are a few significant takeaways from the budget request:
- National Institutes of Health: The proposal includes $41.43 billion in base funding for the NIH, a 12% decrease from FY26. AAU noted in a statement that “Such a drastic cut would turn the United States overnight from the world’s unquestioned leader in biomedical research to last place among our competitor nations – reducing the chances that American science cures cancer, Alzheimer’s, or other terminal and debilitating conditions.”
The budget request also proposes to eliminate the following three NIH institutes: the National Institute on Minority Health and Disparities, the Fogarty International Center, and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
- National Science Foundation: The proposal includes $3.9 billion in total funding for the NSF, a 54% cut from FY26. It even includes substantial cuts for programs that support the administration’s priority areas of AI, quantum, and advanced manufacturing.
- NASA: The proposal includes $19 billion for NASA and $3.9 billion for NASA Science, a 23% and 46% cut, respectively, from FY26. The proposal also cancels several missions across NASA Science and eliminates the Office of STEM Engagement.
- Department of Energy: The proposal includes $7.1 billion for the DOE Office of Science, a 13.5% cut from FY26; the request includes $200 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, a 43% cut from FY26. ARPA-E helps “commercialize high-risk, high-reward energy technologies” and has, over the past 15 years, supported 1,700 energy technology projects at companies, labs, and research universities around the country.
- Department of Defense: The proposal requests $1.5 trillion for DOD, which includes $1.1 trillion in discretionary funding and an additional $350 billion in mandatory funding to be provided through the budget reconciliation process. A separate document containing detailed budget request information for DOD is expected to be published later this month.
- Department of Education: The proposal includes $76.5 billion for ED, a 2.9% cut from FY26. The proposal sets the maximum Pell Grant award at $7,395 for the 2027-28 award year. It also provides $33 billion to address the projected shortfall in Pell funding.
The proposal eliminates funding completely for the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) program, Federal TRIO programs, and the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program.
- National Endowment for the Humanities: The proposal calls for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
In its press statement, AAU urged Congress “to reject these short-sighted cuts and increase investments in America’s scientific enterprise to ensure that our nation continues to lead the world – and that all Americans keep benefiting from the greatest research-and-innovation engine the world has ever known.” It continued: “Recent news that China’s investments in scientific research and development are now outpacing our own only underscores the importance of renewing our commitment to American science.”
Kritika Agarwal is assistant vice president for communications at AAU.