Trump’s 2027 budget proposes deep cuts to science programs

Once again, US president Donald J. Trump seeks deep cuts across federal science programs and agencies in his budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2027. White House budget director Russ Vought prepared the proposal, which was released on April 3.The White House’s main priority in this budget request is to supersize the military. Trump is proposing $1.5 trillion for defense, an increase of approximately 40% compared with actual funding in fiscal year 2026. This massive increase in the military budget would be unprecedented since World War II and would come at the expense of most other areas of the federal government. The proposal would cut $73 billion across domestic agencies, including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and others.In particular, Trump is targeting programs related to gender and racial equity, as well as programs meant to address climate change and environmental justice, as outlined in fact sheets titled “Cuts to Woke Programs” (PDF) and “Ending the Green New Scam” (PDF).Congress does not usually adopt the White House’s budget request in its appropriations bills without major changes. Lawmakers chose to reject many of Trump’s proposed cuts to federal science funding for fiscal year 2026.“Once again, we urge lawmakers to deny the steep cuts proposed to federal R&D [research and development] funding in the Administration’s Budget Request for fiscal year 2027. Thanks to bipartisan support, Congress did its job and rejected a catastrophic proposal for FY26, which would have further damaged U.S. global competitiveness,” says Sudip Parikh, CEO of