National Science Foundation Withholds $1.4 Billion in Research Funds

The National Science Foundation withheld $1.4 billion in research funds mandated by Congress over the past year, representing approximately 19 percent of its primary research budget. The Trump administration intends to redirect these funds toward specific priorities, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, moving away from the broad basic research the agency traditionally supports.

White House officials and agency leadership maintain the move is permitted under the two-year appropriation cycle used by Congress. However, the diversion caused internal confusion, leading some agency divisions to retract research proposals that had already passed peer review and been recommended for funding.

Democratic lawmakers have condemned the action as a political power grab. Representative Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the Science, Space and Technology Committee, described the move as an attack on the scientific enterprise. Meanwhile, presidential science adviser Michael Kratsios criticized the existing grant decision system and advocated for bypassing external review panels.