24 February 2026

Action Alert: Ask Your Members of Congress to Support Science Through Constituent Appropriations Requests

This action alert has closed for 2026. AAS members have submitted dozens of constituent appropriations request forms to their members of Congress, resulting in many of these offices signing letters to appropriations committees in support of robust funding for NSF, NASA SMD, and the DOE Office of Science.

One of the most effective ways to advocate for the sciences is through a constituent appropriations request — essentially, asking your congressional representative to direct funding toward a particular area. Members of Congress collect these requests from their constituents and then submit their top priorities to the appropriations committees, who use them to decide funding levels for the next fiscal year. If you would like to see your members of Congress support a vigorous US science enterprise, including appropriating robust basic research funding for the astronomical sciences, follow the steps below to submit a constituent appropriations request. Be clear that you are asking for yourself and not your employer. Feel free to reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions.

**NOTE: If you are a government employee (this does not apply to contractors or grant recipients), do not participate in this action.

Here is a brief overview of the steps to request funding for astronomy. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.

Find the Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations Request forms for your members of Congress. This spreadsheet contains links to some of the forms; note that not every office has their form currently available, while others have imminent deadlines. Consider checking back every few weeks to see if your office has a form listed, or calling the office to ask about their timeline. For more information, see the detailed instructions below.
For each of your representatives, fill out the form once per program you would like to request funding for. You will be submitting a programmatic request, not a community project funding request. We recommend the following three programs and amounts:
   • National Science Foundation (NSF): $9.9 billion
   • NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD): $9 billion
   • Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE SC): $9.5 billion
Fill out the form using your personal information (not your professional affiliation).
In the form, describe how this funding will impact you, your research, and your district/state. See our cheat sheet for examples.
After submitting the request, please fill out this short form so that AAS can track submissions and help you follow up on your request.
Consider requesting a meeting with your congressional office on Zoom to further discuss the request and why it matters to your district. AAS policy staff are available to help you prepare for such a meeting.
Share these steps with your community and encourage others to do the same!

A full description of the steps above — and more detailed information about submitting constituent appropriations requests — follows below. We recognize that each office's form is different and that these instructions may not cover every type of question you encounter while filling out these forms. While you can always email us at [email protected], AAS policy staff will also be holding office hours over the next few weeks to help answer questions about the process, at the following times:

Friday, 27 February at 11:00 am ET: register here.
Monday, 2 March at 3:00 pm ET: register here.
Tuesday, 3 March at 1:00 pm ET: register here.
Wednesday, 4 March at 10:00 am ET: register here.
Thursday, 5 March at 4:00 pm ET: register here.
Friday, 6 March at 11:00 am ET: register here.

Last year, AAS members submitted over 100 constituent appropriations request forms to their members of Congress, resulting in many of these offices signing letters to appropriations committees in support of robust funding for NSF, NASA SMD, and the DOE SC, and Congress eventually rejecting the severe cuts to our science agencies proposed in the President's Budget Request. We hope to see even more engagement from AAS members this year. Thank you for your advocacy!

Requests for Appropriations

Appropriations are the process by which Congress provides an agency with budget authority, and appropriations bills provide federal funding for each fiscal year. There is an annual process through which all senators and representatives can propose what their individual offices want in that year's appropriations bill. It's a numbers game: the more member requests supporting a particular line item, the better that line item tends to fare. The requests that each member makes are informed by input from constituents, companies, organizations, and others. Each member office has its own webform and deadline for collecting this input, with Senate office forms typically opening and closing later in the year than the House. Even though the President has yet to submit a budget request for FY2027, Hill offices are following their own processes and deadlines for collecting this input. The information below (and more background) is included in this YouTube video.

How To Make a Request

First, identify your members of Congress (two senators and one representative) using the following webpage: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member.

Each office has its own form. To find the forms for your representatives:

First, check this spreadsheet. The AAS public policy team is trying our best to keep up-to-date information on forms and deadlines for each office here. If the spreadsheet does not contain a link to the form for your representative, then
- Search on your favorite search engine for “[Rep/Sen] [Name] FY 2027 Appropriations Request Form.” The link to the form, if it exists, should be on your representative's website.
- Look for the “Non-Defense Programmatic” appropriations form, not “Congressionally Directed Spending” or "Community Project Funding".
You can fill out one form for each of your members of Congress and submit it once for every program for which you're requesting funding.
Note that not every member of Congress has a form currently available, and the deadlines for these forms vary significantly by office. If you aren't able to find the form for your member of Congress, try giving their office a call, and ask for information about the FY 2027 programmatic appropriations request form, and to be added to the mailing list for FY 2027 appropriations requests. Some offices also do not participate in the appropriations request process. In this case, you are still welcome to send the office a note about why federal funding matters to you, using our action alert, or by using the contact form on the office's website.
If you are unable to find the form, please contact [email protected], and we will try our best to help!

Each form asks for identifying information to make sure you are a constituent. Further down the form, there will be more text boxes you need to fill out; keep reading for tips on how to fill them out. If you run into a box that is not like any of those described below, email [email protected], and we can help.

How To Fill Out the Request Form

Below is a list of commonly used items on the forms, in bold, and how to answer them. Also check out our Appropriations Request Cheat Sheet for specific examples on how to fill out request forms for NASA Science, NSF, and DOE Office of Science.

You are the point of contact, so provide your personal information. When filling out appropriations requests, make sure your contact information is not employer affiliated. Use your personal contact information, e.g., your home address and phone number. You can mention your organization/institution if you are asked for your employer, but state that you are not speaking on behalf of your employer; you are only advocating as an individual. We suggest contacting your institution's government affairs office to let them know you are submitting this form as an individual. Organization is the American Astronomical Society. You can use this organization info:
- American Astronomical Society
  1667 K St NW, Suite 800
  Washington DC 20006
  +1 202-328-2010 x124 | [email protected]
For NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF), the appropriations subcommittee/subcommittee jurisdiction is Commerce, Justice, and Science. For the Department of Energy (DOE), the appropriations subcommittee is Energy and Water.
Your request type should be "programmatic", i.e. a funding/budget request. You may see an option of the form for submitting a bill language request, which is a request to add text in the appropriations bill, e.g., about the importance of a particular mission, or protecting dark and quiet skies. Funding/budget requests and bill language requests must be submitted separately. Here, we are only providing instructions for submitting or funding/budget requests. Please contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in submitting a bill language request.
Title/name of your request is just a one-sentence (max) description of the ask, e.g., "Robust Funding For the National Science Foundation".
The account is the name of the appropriations line item (for example, NASA Science Mission Directorate, National Science Foundation, or DOE Office of Science). If you are asked for a separate Program Title, you can enter "topline funding".
This is Discretionary Spending, NOT Direct/Mandatory Spending.
Project Number and Designated Offset can be left blank.
Federal agency/office is NASA, NSF, or DOE (depending on which one you are asking for).
Program Element is for Defense only; you can skip that.
Amount desired for FY 2027: below are the AAS's recommendations for advocacy requests for NSF, NASA SMD, and the DOE SC (you must fill out the form separately for each agency). If you would like to request a funding line item for another relevant agency such as DOD or Smithsonian, you are welcome to do that; the AAS only provides recommendations of specific funding amounts for these three agencies since they are the primary agencies supporting our discipline's decadal surveys.
- NSF: $9.9 billion
- NASA Science Mission Directorate: $9 billion
- DOE Office of Science: $9.5 billion
  
  An important note on these numbers: these are funding levels that we have worked to develop within coalitions of other science societies and stakeholders. We believe that these are the funding levels necessary to execute our communities’ scientific priorities while also keeping a balanced portfolio of missions, facilities, and grants. We recognize that there are macro budgetary issues swirling around DC, including the proper size and role of the federal government. The AAS has long held that investing in fundamental research is an inherently governmental role even though our discipline also benefits from philanthropic investment. Our advocacy is carried out in concert with other professional societies, universities, companies, and other non-profits, and while we each have our own perspectives, each organization first and foremost advocates for a strong basic research ecosystem. We are hearing rumors of deep cuts to science once again in the forthcoming President's Budget Request for FY2027, and we will have more to say and do when that request arrives, but please keep in mind that the President's Budget is just a request and that Congress is the final arbiter on appropriations. Influencing these member requests is the first step in that congressional process.

The form may ask for the President's Budget Request number (not yet available for FY27) and the federal funding history. You can find the federal funding history for NASA, NSF, and DOE SC using AIP's Federal Science Budget Tracker. For FY 2026, NSF received $8.75 billion, NASA SMD received $7.25 billion, and DOE SC received $8.4 billion. In FY 2024 and FY2025, $7.3 billion was enacted for NASA SMD, $9.1 billion was enacted for NSF, and $8.2 billion was enacted for DOE SC.
There should be space to describe the ask and how it benefits the state/district. Make it clear that you are a constituent and not a lobbyist submitting this request, and talk about why it matters to you and their state/district. Tell your story in a brief and compelling manner. Here are some resources that you may find helpful in describing the impact of federal science funding in your state and district:
If you are asked to provide supporting documents, you can upload a document with the explanatory paragraph discussing why the request benefits the state/district.
The office will not be “briefed” on the issues unless you plan on meeting with them, which we encourage you to do. You can set up a Zoom meeting with your congressional office by reaching out to the contact listed on the form, or by requesting a meeting through the "contact" form on your member's website. More information about setting up and preparing for meetings is available here.

Again, these fields can vary by form, so feel free to contact us at [email protected] or (202) 328-2010 x124 (9:00 am – 5:00 pm ET) if you have any questions! You can also drop in for our AAS Policy Office Hours, listed at the top of this page.

After submitting the request, please fill out this short form so that AAS can track submissions and help you follow up on your request.