July 2025

In July, the House and Senate Appropriates Committees considered and advanced their respective versions of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) bills for the 2026 fiscal year (FY). The CJS bill includes funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF).

In stark contrast to the significant 56 percent cut to NSF that was part of the president’s budget request (PBR), the House and Senate bills include smaller reductions, with the House bill including a top line of $7 billion and the Senate bill including a top line of $9 billion. The House proposal would reflect a 23 percent cut to NSF, with the Senate proposal reflecting a cut of less than 1 percent, compared to the amount carried over in the FY 2025 full-year continuing resolution (CR).

National Science Foundation—President’s Budget Request (in millions)

*The FY 2026 request and House CJS bill reflect the consolidation of the STEM Education Directorate within the Research and Related Activities line item.

National Science Foundation—House and Senate CJS Proposals (in millions)

*The FY 2026 request and House CJS bill reflect the consolidation of the STEM Education Directorate within the Research and Related Activities line item.                                                                                                         

** The Senate Research and Related Activities account reflects the combined STEM Education and Research and Related Activities items in the Senate CJS bill for comparison to the president's budget request.                                                                                                            

Senate CJS Bill and NSF

On July 10, the Senate Appropriations Committee began its markup hearing for its FY 2026 CJS legislation. The committee advanced the bill on a 19–10 vote on July 17, following a recess to attempt to resolve a dispute related to the relocation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters. The bill advanced by the full committee leaves funding for NSF relatively flat.

Unlike the president’s budget request, the bill maintains a separate line for the STEM Education (EDU) Directorate in bill text, with all other research funding included in the Research and Related Activities (R&RA) line. The Senate bill would reduce funding in the EDU Directorate by $172 million and decrease funding for R&RA by $109.3 million.

The report language includes notes for NSF to continue to support programs and initiatives—such as the NSF Faculty Early Career Development [CAREER] Program to support early-career research across NSF—that are otherwise proposed to be eliminated by the administration in its budget request. The report language also specifies funding for programs within the EDU Directorate proposed for elimination in the request, such as Improving Undergraduate STEM Education, Advancing Informal STEM Learning, and the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. The language also includes committee support for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate, including its roles in education and learning, while also providing funding for the SBE Directorate at no less than the FY 2024 amount that NSF allocated.

During the Senate Appropriations Committee markup of the CJS bill, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) offered an amendment to restore NSF grants that have been terminated since April, with the exception of those that were cancelled due to financial malfeasance. The amendment failed on a 14–15 vote along party lines. CJS Subcommittee Chair Jerry Moran (R-KS) expressed a commitment to work with Sen. Baldwin on this issue to build in reasons beyond financial mismanagement in an amendment that could be brought when the bill is considered by the full Senate.

House CJS Bill and NSF

On July 15, the House CJS Appropriations Subcommittee advanced its FY 2026 bill on a 9–6 vote. The full House Appropriations Committee had originally scheduled a markup of the bill on July 24, which has since been postponed.

The House CJS bill includes a top line of $7 million for NSF and, like the administration’s budget request, would incorporate funding for the EDU Directorate into the overall R&RA funding account. The bill text details several policy provisions related to activities for all agencies covered in the bill, including the prohibition of funds to implement the 2022 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy memo “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research,” and a separate prohibition of funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In addition to the CJS bill the Senate Appropriations Committee has scheduled a markup of the FY 2026 for the Defense and the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) bills on July 31. The LHHS bill funds the Institute of Education Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. The House Appropriations Committee has not yet announced an updated schedule for subcommittee and full committee consideration of its LHHS bills.

While the FY 2025 fiscal year ends on September 30, the outlook for action to extend funding through a congressional resolution has been complicated by the passage of the budget reconciliation bill (the “One Big Beautiful Bill”) and the rescission of $9 billion of FY 2025 funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and foreign aid programs.