White House proposes to slash science spending

US president Donald J. Trump has proposed massive cuts to federal science programs for fiscal year 2026, which runs from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026. The proposal, also referred to as the “skinny” budget because it provides less detail than a full budget request, is in line with Trump’s calls during his first term as president to slash funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other US federal agencies.These proposed cuts came days before the European Commission announced that it was investing €500 million, or about $566 million, over the next 2 years to “make Europe a magnet for researchers.” Although the Trump administration still needs to create a full budget request, Congress can take the skinny budget recommendations under consideration as it begins drafting its appropriation bills. During Trump’s previous presidency, Congress rarely went along with calls to slash science funding and even went as far as boosting science agency budgets.Science advocacy organizations are now calling for lawmakers to do the same this year. “Make no mistake, if Congress enacts the President’s skinny budget, the consequences for the future of our nation would be catastrophic,” Sudip Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, says in a statement released on May 2.Gretchen Goldman, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, says in a separate may 2 statement that “the administration’s devastating funding cuts and layoffs already have damaged the nation’s future by gutting its scientific foundation. If