February 5, 2026
On Tuesday, 3 February, the President signed into law a third appropriations package, resulting in 95% of fiscal year 2026 (FY26) appropriations now complete, including funding for all U.S. federal science agencies. Despite a challenging year for science and U.S. science agencies, the FY26 appropriations legislation is a bright spot, demonstrating the strength and value of the scientific community engaging with policymakers.
The funding levels recommended in the president’s budget request (PBR) for FY26 would have decimated our federal science agencies and harmed the larger scientific community. Thankfully, Congress rejects many of those cuts.
| FY25 | FY26PBR | % Change from FY25 | Final FY26 | % Change from FY25 | |
| NASA SMD | $7,334.20 | $3,900 | -46.82% | $7,250.00 | -1.15% |
| Earth Science | $2,195.00 | $1,033 | -52.94% | $2,153.00 | -1.91% |
| Planetary | $2,716.70 | $1,929 | -28.99% | $2,541.20 | -6.46% |
| Heliophysics | $805.00 | $455.00 | -43.47% | $874.80 | 8.67% |
| NASA STEM Engagement | $143.00 | $0 | -100% | $143.00 | 0% |
| NOAA | $6,182.50 | $4,515.30 | -31.18% | $6,170.94 | -2.34 |
| NSF | $9,060.00 | $3,903.15 | -56.85% | $8,750.00 | -3.42% |
| DOE Office of Science | $8,240.00 | $7,092.00 | -13.98% | $8,400.00 | 1.94% |
| USGS | $1,450.20 | $891.56 | -38.52% | $1,420.43 | -2.05% |
| NIEHS | $913.98 | $594.10 | -35.00% | $913.98 | 0% |
| Superfund Research Program | $79.71 | $51.80 | -35.01% | $77.10 | -3.27% |
| EPA Science & Technology | $758.10 | $500.78 | -33.77% | $744.20 | -1.27% |
Through report language and joint explanatory statements (Package 1, Package 2), Congress protects programs targeted for elimination in the request and provides important safeguards for funding at agencies. Science protected includes:
- Earth and environmental research within DOE’s Office of Science
- DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facility
- NASA space missions operating in extended life
- Within NASA’S Science Mission Directorate, top priority decadal missions, including Earth System Observatory missions, HelioSwarm, Geospace Dynamics Constellation (GDC), VERITAS, and DAVINCI
- Facilities at Goddard
- Critical climate programs within NOAA’s Office of Atmospheric Research
- Sea Grant and Space Grant
- All NSF science directorates
- The independence of NSF’s STEM Education directorate
- USGS’s LandSat Next architecture
- Most of the USGS’s Ecosystems Mission Area
- Keeps the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences within the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Federal agencies’ programs aimed at broadening participation in science
- The current indirect costs system for federal grants across all agencies