Senate FY2026 CJS Appropriations Report: NASA and NSF Details

The Senate Appropriations Committee marked up its Commerce, Justice, & Science (CJS) spending bill on 17 July and reported the bill favorably to the Senate. Here we outline the main provisions within the FY2026 Senate CJS bill and the accompanying report, the latter of which provides a deeper look into the spending allocations that the Senate Appropriations Committee recommends for NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). When dissecting the language of the CJS report, it is important to remember that not all projects or programs will be mentioned. Specific projects or telescopes are often mentioned strategically by the Appropriations Committee to signal support, concerns, and/or agency expectations. The report can also be used to explain why the Senate is rejecting certain aspects of the President's Budget Request (PBR) and what the committee recommends as an alternative. If a specific project is not mentioned by name in the CJS report, it likely just means that it is not a congressional focus, which is usually not a negative. Finally, this is not a comprehensive list of everything in the report; we encourage you to look through the report yourself here.

NASA

The Senate Appropriations Committee allocated $7.3 billion for NASA Science (same as FY2024), with a slight boost to the Astrophysics and Heliophysics Divisions, and a small decrease to the Planetary Science Division. The Office of STEM Engagement is also allocated $5 million more than FY2024, rejecting the PBR's proposed cancellation of this program.

The FY2026 Senate CJS Report outlines the division-level NASA science allocations presented in the table above, in comparison to the FY2024 enacted budget and the FY2026 PBR. The Senate Appropriations Committee voices strong support for NASA Science: "For [NASA] Science, the Committee’s recommendation strives to keep NASA’s near-term launches on track to continue progress in exploring our solar system and the universe, understanding the Sun, and observing our changing planet. The Committee expects NASA to continue making progress on the recommendations of the National Academies’ decadal surveys, now and in the future."

The Senate Appropriations Committee also rejects the proposed deep cuts and mission terminations across NASA Science in the FY2026 PBR, and the table above is taken directly from the report. Along with the funding lines shown above, the Senate Appropriations Committee directs:

• No less than $63 million for the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
• $10 million for the Uranus Orbiter and Probe
• $20 million for OSIRIS-APEX
• $27 million for Juno
• $207 million for Living with a Star
• $25 million for the Parker Solar Probe
• $288 million for the Heliophysics Explorer

The level of funding shows that the Senate Appropriations Committee is not interested in sweeping cuts to NASA Science, which is further underscored by this statement:

"The Committee rejects the mission terminations proposed in the fiscal year 2026 budget request for Earth Science, Planetary Science, Astrophysics, and Heliophysics. The Committee is concerned by the plan to end 55 missions across Science, which was driven by budget pressure rather than scientific value. The operating missions that are providing valuable scientific data should undergo the Senior Review process. Meanwhile, missions that are at the end of development and have been confirmed should proceed to launch at the earliest possible date. The Committee is open to collaborating with NASA to implement Senior Review findings. However, mission cancellations without clear justifications may hinder scientific progress and U.S. leadership in space."

Finally, the Committee also included report language recognizing the importance of international partnerships, stating:

"Further, the Committee affirms the importance of NASA upholding its commitments to our international partners and expects future budget requests to sustain funding to fulfill these commitments, including for missions such as Laser Interferometer Space Antenna and Rosalind Franklin ExoMars Rover."

NSF

For NSF, the Senate Appropriations committee allocates $9 billion, a cut of $60M (<1%) from FY2024, and keeps the Research & Related Activities (R&RA) account flat at $7.18 billion for FY2026. The report also provides a ~50% increase to the Major Research & Facilities Construction (MREFC) account and a 15% cut to STEM Education.

The CJS report rejects the large cuts to NSF. It states that "The Committee’s fiscal year 2026 recommendation supports Federal long-term basic and translational research that has the potential to transform our economy and way of life."

Multiple NSF projects are called out by name for continued funding/support, including:

• Flat funding for the Daniel K. Inuoye Solar Telescope (DKIST). The committee "recognizes the value of DKIST's operations and does not support a reduction in its observing time."
• Flat funding for the Green Bank Observatory.
• Support for the US Extremely Large Telescope (USELT) program, stating that both telescopes shall move forward to final design review "at no cost to the federal government."
• $94 million for the continued operation of both LIGO facilities.
• $50 million for the next generation astronomy facilities recommended in Astro2020.

The Committee also commented on the importance of Antarctic research and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB-S4):

"The Committee is concerned about pausing Antarctic field research and delaying the Fourth Generation Ground Cosmic Microwave Background [CMB–S4] and IceCube-Gen2 due to infrastructure challenges. Despite significant support for Antarctic infrastructure upgrades at McMurdo, Amundsen-Scott, and Palmer Stations, the modernization effort is years behind schedule, potentially extending another decade. These delays risk U.S. leadership in Antarctic research, partner support for new facilities, and progress in understanding critical Antarctic changes."

To address Antarctic research infrastructure issues, the Committee directs the NSF to "request sufficient resources to support concurrent infrastructure upgrades, ongoing research, and major facility planning, and to submit a comprehensive plan within 180 days, detailing timelines, milestones, and funding needs for Antarctic upgrades, research vessel deployment, and South Pole physics experiments."

The Senate Appropriations Committee also shows support for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, providing funding to support 2,000 fellowships in FY2026. The CJS report also states that "the Committee is strongly supportive of the REU Sites and Supplements program." The report also indicates the Committee's support for Broadening Participation programs at NSF, stating:

"As the demographics of our Nation evolve, ensuring individuals from underrepresented communities across the country can enter and sustain a career as part of the STEM workforce is essential to securing the workforce going forward."

What's Next?

The FY2026 Senate CJS bill has passed out of the Appropriations Committee, but the full Senate still needs to vote on the bill. Reports say this may happen as early as this week, though there is nothing on the schedule yet. The CJS bill may be packaged with a few other Appropriations bills, commonly referred to as a "minibus." Once the Senate CJS bill passes, the House and the Senate still must agree on the final spending bill before it is signed into law.

On 14 and 15 July, the House Appropriations subcommittees marked up the Energy & Water Development and CJS spending bills, respectively. The House spending bills allocate $6 billion for NASA Science (an 18% cut from FY2024), $7 billion for NSF (a 20% cut from FY2024), and $8.4 billion for the DOE Office of Science (the same as FY2024). The full House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up the CJS bill on Thursday, 24 July, and we will have another blog post later this week to dive into the House CJS report.

It remains unclear how the House and the Senate will reach a compromise over the differences in their respective spending bills. With the August recess quickly approaching, Congress has limited time to pass all 12 Appropriations bills, and it is increasingly likely that we will be facing a short-term Continuing Resolution or a government shutdown after September 30th.

The Senate CJS bill is proof that our collective action in support of science is making an impact. Thank you to all of those who have taken the time to send emails, make phone calls, or meet with congressional staff. However, the job is far from done. Check out our advocacy page to learn more about how you can continue to make an impact in our ever-changing political landscape.

Follow us on Bluesky (@policy.aas.org) and X (@AAS_Policy) to stay up-to-date with the latest updates. As always, if you have questions or comments, please email [email protected].