Week of Action in Support of Federal Funding for the Sciences

A "skinny" version of the President's Budget Request (PBR) for Fiscal Year 2026 was released on Friday, 2 May 2025. While details of proposed funding cuts at the division level for NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and other agencies are expected later this month, the skinny budget describes top-level proposed cuts at these agencies, including the following: 

• A $4.7 billion cut to NSF (a 52% reduction from FY25), including a $3.5 billion cut to General Research and Education, a $1.1 billion cut to Broadening Participation, and a $93 million cut to Agency Operations and Awards Management.
• A $3.4 billion cut to the NASA Science Mission Directorate (a 47% reduction from FY25), including: 
  • A $2.3 billion cut to Space Science, which includes astrophysics, planetary science, and heliophysics (a 44% reduction from FY25).
  • A $1.1 billion cut to Earth Science (a 53% reduction from FY25). 
• A $1.1 billion cut to the Department of Energy (DoE) Office of Science (a 14% reduction from FY25). 

However, the PBR is not law, it is just a proposal. Congress holds the “power of the purse” and will ultimately make the decision about how much federal funding is appropriated to these and other agencies. We need you to take action next week, and thereafter, to remind Congress of the importance of federal funding for the sciences.  

We ask that you set aside some time every day this week to engage in advocacy for the sciences. We have a list of suggested actions for each day below, but we encourage you to also do what you believe to be impactful and timely. Keep in mind that often the most time-consuming or difficult actions will be the most impactful, so we appreciate as much time as you are able to make for these! Please share what you are doing each day on social media using #WeekOfAction and #SaveScience. 

Day 1 (Monday, 5 May): Write to your members of Congress

It's time to speak up for science! Kick off our Week of Action by writing to your members of Congress, urging them to robustly fund space science in FY 2026 and beyond. You can use our action alert to send a message in just a few minutes, but a personalized email is likely to have more impact — please reach out to [email protected] for direct contact information for science staffers in your congressional office. 

Once you send a message to your members of Congress, you can amplify your message by sharing on your social media why strong federal support for science and space research matters to you. Tag your representatives and use #WeekOfAction and #SaveScience to spread the message far and wide! 

Here are some resources that you might find helpful in crafting your message: 

• NSF impacts in your state fact sheets 
• NASA state-level economic impact report fact sheets 
• FASEB state and district-level information about NSF, DOE SC, NIH and USDA funding 
• AAAS Federal R&D Dashboard 
• APS Federal R&D Enterprise Visualizer

Day 2 (Tuesday, 6 May): Call your members of Congress

Your voice matters! A phone call is 32% more likely to influence your member of Congress compared to a form email. Use the “Phone” button on our action alert, or a service like 5 Calls, to call your members of Congress and tell them why funding science and space is critical for America's future. It only takes a few minutes — and it can have a huge impact. If you are nervous about speaking to someone, don’t worry! Most calls will go to voicemail, especially if you call on the weekend or after 6 pm ET (but the office will still listen to your voicemail). 

Day 3 (Wednesday, 7 May): Request a meeting with your congressional office

Request a meeting on zoom or at a local district office with your members of Congress, or their staff. You could even invite them to visit your institution! 97% of Congressional offices say that a meeting with a constituent influences their decisions. Personal connections help policymakers see firsthand how federal investments in science make a difference. To request a meeting, you can either find a form on your member’s website, or email [email protected] and we’d be happy to assist you! We also encourage you to coordinate with your institution’s government affairs office, and consider doing this meeting as a group with other constituents at your institution/department. 

Day 4 (Thursday, 8 May): Host an advocacy event

Today, spend some time broadening your advocacy efforts by helping others get engaged. Host a short co-working session at your institution or online where you can help others engage in the above advocacy actions, including writing to their member of Congress, preparing a script for a phone call, and requesting a meeting with your congressional office. If your congressional office still has constituent appropriations requests forms open, you can work together to put in direct, impactful requests to the office to support robust levels of funding for science agencies. Please consult the AAS guide for how to do so here. As always, reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions during the process. 

Day 5 (Friday, 9 May): Prepare for a journal club

Prepare to host a journal club at your institution or in your department in the coming weeks to discuss issues related to federal funding for the sciences and scientific workforce development programs. This could include developing a better understanding of how federal science funding impacts your state and district using some of the tools below: 

• NSF impacts in your state fact sheets 
• NASA state-level economic impact report fact sheets 
• Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) state and district-level information about NSF, DOE Office of Science, National Institutes of Health, and US Department of Agriculture funding 
• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Federal Research & Development Dashboard 
• American Physical Society (APS) Federal Research & Development Enterprise Visualizer 

You could also discuss some of the following papers, studies, reports, books, and op-eds related to federal funding for science and scientific programs (this is not a comprehensive list, feel free to search for or suggest other pieces): 

• Research! America National Survey 
• An article from Issues in Science and Technology 
• An article from the Journal of Science Policy and Governance 
• Science: The Endless Frontier, a 1945 report from Vannevar Bush to President Truman, which led to the establishment of the National Science Foundation.
• Working with Congress: A Scientist's Guide to Policy by Kasey Shewey White and Joanne P. Carney
• Funding for R&D isn't a gift to academia, an op-ed in the Washington Post by Senator Todd Young (R-IN) and Matt Pottinger.
• Impacts of Restrictions on Federal Grant Funding in Physics and Astronomy Graduate Programs, a recent report by the American Institute of Physics
• Beyond Sputnik: U.S. Science Policy in the Twenty-First Century by Homer Alfred Neal, Tobin Smith and Jennifer McCormick
• Science policy for scientists: A simple task for great effect William Gaieck et al. 2020
• What Works to Promote Research-Policy Engagement? Kathryn Oliver et al. 2022

Bonus (for the weekend or next week): Write an op-ed

We know that it’s been a long week, and thank you for all your efforts! Consider taking what you have learned over the past week to write an op-ed for a local newspaper. You could write about a myriad of topics, including: the severe economic impact of reduced STEM funding, the “brain drain” of scientists to other countries, the loss of opportunities in the STEM workforce pipeline, American leadership in the space sciences, national security and innovation, and/or the personal importance of science to you and your career. Here are some resources for writing an op-ed, including suggested talking points. You can also check out Science Homecoming, a grassroots nonprofit science organization, for more information. The Science Homecoming site provides free tools, templates, and volunteer editor support for scientists to write short hometown op-eds and highlight how science impacts everyday life. Consider also signing up for the McClintock Letters, an effort to publish over 1,000 op-eds and letters to the editor in local newspapers about the importance of federal funding for science. As always, feel free to reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions during the process.