This time it’s on more than 20 years of National Science Foundation (NSF) funding.
Last month the Trump Administration released the details of its Fiscal Year 2026 budget request to Congress. According to the Computing Research Association (CRA), the President’s plan, if enacted, would have a devastating impact on research budgets and the scientific workforce in the short term. In the long term, this budget could have catastrophic impacts on the nation’s ability to innovate and compete globally.
Compared to the FY24 budget, the FY26 plan calls for cuts of 56 percent to NSF funding. This plan would take the Foundation from a current funding level of $9 billion to just $4 billion in FY26. That’s the lowest level of investment in more than 20 years.
The cut to the Computing and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate would be significant: 65 percent, or from $989 million in FY24 to $346 million in FY26.
And, according to a policy blog issued by the CRA, “The President’s plan would also provide greatly reduced or zero funding for nearly all of what the budget describes as “Broaden Participation” programs at the agency, including CAREER awards, the INCLUDES Initiative, the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), CSGrad4US, and REU Sites and Supplements. These programs all help the next generation grow and thrive, so losing them would be devastating for the computing research community’s future.”
The CRA is calling for members of the computing industry and those interested in advancing U.S. technology to contact their representatives in Congress and tell them about the damage a budget like this could do to our work and our community.
For more information, see the CRA ACTION ALERT.