The Energy Sciences Coalition urges Congress to reject proposed cuts to the Department of Energy Office of Science, warning that reduced funding would harm U.S. scientific leadership and innovation, and instead recommends increasing the budget to $9.5 billion for FY 2026.
May 19, 2025
The Energy Sciences Coalition (ESC) urges Congress to reject the proposed cut to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science in the Trump Administration’s FY 2026 budget request and instead provide funding above the FY 2024 and 2025 enacted funding levels to maintain U.S. competitiveness and unleash innovation in new energy and emerging technologies.
The $1.148 billion proposed cut to the Office of Science is not consistent with the Administration’s goal of “unleashing a golden era of American energy dominance” and strengthening our national security. To make significant progress in priority areas including fusion, high-performance computing, quantum computing, artificial intelligence and critical minerals will require bold new investments in the basic science underpinning these fields. The DOE Office of Science has a proven model of success in discovery and innovation leveraging unique science and technology strengths across all six major program areas. The Office of Science also has an excellent track record of delivering major projects on time and on budget.
While specific budget details are not yet available, ESC wants to highlight initial concerns on program activities and lost opportunities for U.S. leadership in science and technology. Even with flat funding of $8.24 billion appropriated in FY 2024 and not taking into account inflation or the additional $1.148 billion cut proposed:
- The Office of Science has already seen a decline of $200 million or 5% in fundamental research in the last three years. This has had adverse impacts on a broad range of activities and delayed progress toward science, energy, and national security goals, including:
- applied math and computer science that harness exascale and other high performance computing facilities, advance the trustworthy, energy-efficient, and scalable use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and design the next-generation of semiconductors;
- basic chemical and geosciences research to advance progress in rare earths and critical minerals, geothermal and other subsurface technologies, and novel approaches for advanced manufacturing;
- biological and earth and environmental sciences focused on biotechnology, predictive weather impacts, and the destruction of nuclear and other legacy waste;
- nuclear physics to explore the constituent forms of matter, constituting 95% of U.S. funding in this field of science; and
- high energy physics focused on exploring how the universe works and unraveling Nobel Prize winning mysteries related to the properties of neutrinos, dark matter and dark energy, and the expansion of the universe.
- Current funding levels do not fully support the operations of 28 world-leading, large scale research facilities, such as light sources, particle accelerators, and supercomputers, used by more than 40,000 researchers from academia, industry and federal agencies to advance science and engineering solutions in energy, national security, health, and manufacturing. Any proposed cuts to operations could result in hundreds of fewer users from industry, academia, and national labs to leverage these billion-dollar facilities and potential layoffs of operational staff at the research facilities. In the last few years, Congress has increased funding for operations to also address rising costs related to inflation, supply chain disruptions, remote operations and increased staffing support needs as new and upgraded facilities come online. These investments need to be continued.
- Current research funding levels, as described above, are also limiting research projects for those who take advantage of the facilities and equipment described above. Further funding shortfalls would continue to cut opportunities to support scientists across the country who are focusing on DOE priorities and pursuing projects that give hands-on research experiences to the next generation of scientists and innovators.
- The budget request should fully fund major research facility construction and national lab modernization projects consistent with DOE-approved project profiles. Funding shortfalls would result in cost increases and schedule delays, putting at risk the ability of the U.S. to deliver on scientific breakthroughs ahead of international competition and maintain the reliability of critical national lab infrastructure.
- The U.S. faces a workforce shortage in STEM fields that address energy, environment, and national security. The nation needs more, not fewer, creative initiatives to encourage and prepare the STEM workforce. Potential cuts to the Office of Science’s modest workforce development program would be highly counterproductive. The program has an outsized influence in building and sustaining a pipeline of STEM talent needed to execute DOE missions and work at DOE national labs. Activities under this program include undergraduate internships, graduate thesis research opportunities, visiting faculty research appointments and annual, nationwide, middle, and high school science competitions for the National Science Bowl.
ESC has also recommended new investments in key technology areas. Flat funding or proposed cuts puts the U.S. at risk of falling behind international competition. In addition, these investments should not come at the expense of Office of Science core research programs since those drive innovation and support scientific and engineering talent needed to advance emerging technology areas. Consistent with Administration priorities, ESC recommends additional funding for:
- Artificial Intelligence. If “AI is the next Manhattan Project,” DOE should have a focused AI Initiative focused on science, energy, and national security missions, as part of a broader federal strategy. AI can play a major role in driving important scientific and technological discoveries for DOE missions, such as the search for new quantum materials for quantum computing, sensing, and networking applications and new nuclear and fusion reactor designs. AI National Security and Energy Hubs would bring together national labs, academic, and industry to find solutions to specific national security and energy security grand challenges in grid security, advanced nuclear and fusion reactors, modeling and simulation, materials design, and other fields.
- Quantum Information Science. Additional resources are needed to grow the five DOE National QIS Research Centers; expand use-inspired research projects that focus on initial applications, especially in sensing and metrology, communications, and computing and simulation; build quantum foundries; launch and expand quantum internet, networking, and communications testbeds and research efforts consistent with DOE’s “America’s Blueprint for the Quantum Internet” strategy; design hybrid quantum/high-performance computing systems; and fully support the quantum user expansion for science and technology (QUEST) program that would expand access to researchers to the nation’s leading quantum infrastructure and capabilities.
- Fusion. Additional funding is needed to accelerate research and commercialization of fusion energy, including the design and construction of next-generation facilities for materials research and full support for new fusion R&D centers dedicated to materials, the blanket fuel cycle, enabling technologies, and advanced simulation and inertial fusion energy Hubs.
- Critical minerals and materials. The Office of Science has already made critical research and development investments but could significantly scale up efforts to help secure the domestic supply chain of rare earths and other critical materials needed for energy and national security technologies. This includes less costly and more environmentally friendly extraction and processing methods, co-producing critical minerals and high-value carbon products, improved reuse and recycling, and finding substitutes.
The United States must maintain its leadership in science, technology and innovation globally. The DOE Office of Science plays a pivotal and leading role in addressing our country’s energy and national security challenges. For these reasons, we urge Congress to provide $9.5 billion for the Office of Science in FY 2026. We look forward to working with you to advance the critical missions of this invaluable agency.
Sincerely,
ESC Members