Last Friday, President Trump released the fiscal year 2027 President’s Budget Request. What we are seeing is devastating, and it demands a forceful response.
As our policy team details on The Bridge, this budget is largely a repeat of last year’s proposal, but repetition does not soften the blow. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate is cut by nearly half its budget. The National Science Foundation is losing more than half. NOAA is down nearly 28%. The EPA is slashed by more than 52%. And once again, for the second year in a row, the Administration proposes to eliminate the U.S. Geological Survey’s Ecosystems Mission Area, a critical program that supports the science underpinning natural resource management, biodiversity, and environmental health across the country.
Behind every one of these numbers and cuts are people and programs that support our members, fund the research that informs policy, and protect the scientific infrastructure that communities across the country and around the world depend on.
Last year, Congress largely rejected these cuts—thanks in no small part to the collective voice of the AGU community. But we cannot assume that will happen again. The political and fiscal landscape this year is different, and the stakes are higher than ever.
We cannot let this budget proposal go unanswered.
AGU is bringing scientists to Capitol Hill for our Days of Action 21-22 April in Washington, D.C. If you are able to join us, there is still time to sign up by Thursday, 9 April. If you cannot make it to Washington in person, I urge you to contact your legislators directly through AGU’s Action Center. It takes only minutes, and it matters.
Last year, our community got loud and sent over 43,500 emails and made over 3,000 phone calls to Congress about robust funding for federal science, and offices told us that it made a difference. We need to stay loud.
The science funding our nation and the world depend on is on the line. AGU will not stand on the sidelines, and we are asking you not to, either.
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