Latest from the White House (May 13)

COSSA continues to follow the flurry of executive actions taken by the Trump Administration and the impact those actions are having on the social and behavioral science community. Below are some of the latest developments coming out of the White House. Past updates are available here.

The Dismantling of NSF Continues

As previously reported, the President’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) arrived at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in April, leading to the termination of more funded projects, elimination of directorate advisory committees, and the resignation of the NSF Director. Last week, as reported by Science, the agency was further upended with the announcement that NSF will be eliminating 37 divisions across all eight directorates and drastically reducing the number of programs offered. According to an internal memo, current division directors and deputy directors will lose their titles and, if they are not terminated, may be reassigned to other positions in or outside of NSF.

The dismantling does not stop there. Science has also reported that the latest Reduction in Force (RIF) order has targeted the Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM (EES) within the STEM Education Directorate (EDU) for elimination. NSF has already removed the EES Division from the EDU Directorate’s website with the following note:

“At the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), our mission is to foster scientific progress, improve national health and prosperity, and safeguard our nation’s security. This means making decisions to ensure our efforts align with our priorities. Today, we initiated the reduction in force of the Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM. NSF is mindful of its statutory program obligations and plans to take steps to ensure those continue.”

Latest efforts also target Senior Executive Service (SES) positions at NSF, including “rotators,” who are scientists that take a leave of absence from their academic positions to serve for a few years at the Foundation. An internal memo from NSF Chief Management Officer Micah Cheatham to NSF staff states that of the 143 SES positions available at NSF, only 59 will be required going forward, a reduction of 60 percent. In addition, officials serving in rotator positions will be removed from SES positions over the next 30 days and into “new, executive-level positions where they will retain program responsibility and authority but will no longer supervise federal employees.” The number of temporary workers will be reduced from 368 to 70 and positions will focus on “presidential priorities in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nuclear energy, quantum science, and translational science.”

This latest RIF, which took effect immediately on May 9, is said to be completed by July 12.

The “restructuring” is meant to reflect NSF’s “new organizational structure and proposed future budgets,” alluding to the President’s proposals to reduce the NSF budget from $9 billion to $3.9 billion in FY 2026 (see related article). However, as COSSA has been reporting, Congress enacted an FY 2025 budget of $9 billion for NSF; the Administration is proceeding with cuts that are not in-line with what Congress has approved, raising serious questions about the legality of these actions.

A day before the restructuring announcement, Democrats on the House Science Committee sent a letter to the new acting NSF Director Brian Stone demanding answers to their questions about the process for identifying terminated grants. Few of the Committee’s past requests have been answered by the agency.

This is a developing story.

National Science Board Remains Silent

On May 2, the NSF employee’s union AFGE Local 3403 sent a letter to the National Science Board (NSB) calling on them to push back against Administration efforts. The letter states, “As this crisis has built over the last 100 days, the NSB has been largely silent. We do not believe that you agree with what is happening. We urge you to speak up.”

However, during the latest NSB meeting on May 7, there was little acknowledgement of recent efforts in the open sessions, including grant terminations, except for a brief thanking of NSF employees who “are retiring or leaving the agency.”

Today, NSB Member and former OSTP Director under the Biden Administration Alondra Nelson announced her resignation from the Board, to which she was appointed last year. In the Time piece announcing her resignation, Nelson notes that following last week’s meeting, which was “observed” by a DOGE representative, “The message I received was that the National Science Board had a role to play in name only.”

Save NSF Coalition

In response to Administration actions, a new Save NSF coalition has formed with the purpose of providing the scientific community with resources they can use to advocate for NSF funding and the science it supports. The website includes an action center with letter templates, phone scripts, and social posts with helpful data points about the importance of NSF.

The website also includes an open letter from the NSF employees union to the scientific community with additional resources.

Foundations Step Up to Help Impacted Researchers

In response to grant terminations at NSF, the Spencer Foundation, in collaboration with the Kapor Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, are offering “rapid response bridge grants” to impacted scholars. Grants in the amount of $25,000 are available for researchers working on research on STEM and education and who have recently had their grant terminated or cancelled by NSF. Deadlines are May 30, 2025 and June 13, 2025.