Almost 150 workers from the National Science Foundation (NSF) have lambasted Donald Trump’s cuts to the agency as “politically motivated and legally questionable”, joining colleagues at three other federal research agencies in warning that the administration is destroying innovation and sacrificing the US’s position as a global scientific leader.
The three-page dissent states the actions of the administration “collectively amount to the systemic dismantling of a world-renowned scientific agency” and that they have been compelled to act because “NSF employees are bound by their oath to uphold the Constitution.”
The document condemns the decision as “illegally” withholding $2.2bn of the $9bn budget appropriated by Congress for 2025 and the “unlawful termination and threatened mass reductions” in the workforce, which has already seen more than 10% of the agency’s staff dismissed.
They also point to the termination of more than 1,600 active NSF grants “using undisclosed criteria devised by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge)” – the quasi-government agency set up by Trump’s billionaire donor Elon Musk.
Earlier this month, the Guardian reported on the unprecedented political interference being wielded by Doge which, together with the chaotic cuts, has already undermined the gold standard review process used by the NSF to support cutting-edge science, and was jeopardizing the future of US industries and economic growth.
“A covert and ideologically driven secondary review process by unqualified political appointees is now interfering with the scientific merit-based review system,” the letter states.
The NSF was created 75 years ago and until Trump took office for his second term had enjoyed bipartisan support. It is the only federal agency that funds fundamental research across all fields of science and engineering, and which over the years has contributed to major breakthroughs in organ transplants, gene technology, AI, smartphones, extreme weather warning systems, American sign language, cybersecurity and even the language app Duolingo.
Trump’s budget proposal calls for a 56% cut to the NSF budget for 2026, which if enacted “would undermine US leadership in science, eliminate funding for over 250,000 researchers and students, and break bipartisan commitments made under the CHIPS and Science Act”, the letter states.
The NSF statement follows similar unprecedented dissent by hundreds of scientists and other staff at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and most recently the Voyager Declaration from almost 300 current and former Nasa scientists including four astronauts.
All have warned about the devastating impact of the administration’s arbitrary and chaotic cuts to staff and research funds on the lives of Americans – now and in the future – in order to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy including Trump’s billionaire donors.
The NSF dissent is addressed to California member of Congress Zoe Lofgren, the top Democrat on the House science committee, who has repeatedly condemned Trump’s assault on science.
Only one employee, Jesus Soriano, president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees which represents two thirds of the NSF’s unionized bargaining unit, included his name; 148 of the 149 signatories are anonymous due to fear of reprisals.
The fear is well founded given that around 140 named signatories of the EPA “declaration of dissent” were put on administrative leave, and Lee Zeldin, the climate change denier and EPA secretary, warned that there was a “zero-tolerance policy for career bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting” the current administration.
It ends with a stark warning: “NSF employees are committed to serving the American people through research, education, and innovation. But they cannot do so under fear, censorship, and institutional sabotage. Without immediate oversight and corrective action from Congress, one of our nation’s greatest engines for scientific and technological advancement faces irreversible long-term damage. Put simply, America will forfeit its scientific leadership position to China and other rival nations.”