August 11, 2026
Although few Americans have heard of the National Science Foundation (NSF), fewer still have heard of the National Science Board (NSB).
The NSF is "an independent federal agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and U.S. territories." It was established in 1950 to "promote the progress of science,"advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and secure the national defense."It fulfills its mission"chiefly by making grants."Its budget request for the upcoming fiscal year 2027 is $3.41 billion.
The NSB is the NSF's governing board that was also established in 1950. Jointly,"the board and NSF director pursue the goals and functions of NSF, including the duty to 'recommend and encourage the pursuit of national policies for the promotion of research and education in science and engineering.'"It also"establishes NSF's policies within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the president and the Congress"and serves"as an independent body of advisors to both the president and Congress on policy matters related to science and engineering and education in science and engineering."The NSB consists of 25 members, appointed by the president to six-year terms.
This past April, President Trump fired all members of the NSB. He previously cancelled or suspended almost 2,000 NSF grants and cut staffing at the NSF. The Office of Management and Budget ( OMB) has"proposed a new rule that would give political appointees the power to approve, reject, or terminate research grants to ensure compliance with the administration's policy agenda."
To liberals, all of this means that the Trump administration is waging a war on science. But, of course, there is no war on science. There is a phony war on science funding, but there is no war on science.
Any scientist is free to perform research on any subject that interests him. He is just not free to have the taxpayers pay for it. He can use his own funds, find a patron or donor, or work for a foundation, university, or private firm. But neither he himself, his patron or donor, or any foundation, university, private firm should receive taxpayer dollars for scientific research. It is neither constitutional nor the proper role of government to do so. And it is a myth that government spending on scientific research is a"public good"with positive"spillovers"and"spin-offs"that accrue to the private sector.
The war on science funding is bogus because President Trump and the Republicans in Congress have no philosophical objection to the federal government funding scientific research. The Trump administration disproportionally cancelled or froze funding for projects on topics it didn't like.
Now, the NSF is certainly guilty of funding ridiculous and questionable projects. Back in 2011, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) issued a report detailing how the NSF squandered billions of dollars on silly research projects and mismanagement. The report found that NSF grants included:
- $1,500,000 to study how long you will have to wait if you trust your laundry folding to a robot;
- $559,681 to study how long a shrimp can run on a treadmill;
- $476,000 to study how often do people lie in text messages and online messaging;
- $79,998 to study why the same teams always dominate the March Madness college basketball tournament
More recently, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) released a report into how the NSF"has increasingly politicized the use of taxpayer dollars meant for scientific research."The NSF"allocated over $2.05 billion to thousands of research projects that promoted neo-Marxist perspectives or DEI tenets."Such NSF grants included:
- $569,851 to Florida International University (FIU; $135,735), Colorado State University ($200,429), and the University of Minnesota ($233,687) to examine"sex/gender narratives in undergraduate biology and their impacts on transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming students.
- $800,000 to the University of Michigan to "create a community of scholars
- equipped with education and tools to mitigate racialized oppression in engineering
- education environments."
- $401,744 to San Jose State University for an ongoing project to "transform science teaching and learning through empowering teachers and students as climate justice action researchers and change agents."
But to say that the NSF should stop funding ridiculous and questionable projects, have its budget cut, be subject to more oversight, not be politicized, or be reformed is to miss the real issue.
The NSF and the NSB should not exist. Any and all scientific research should be done by private entities on the free market.