The Trump administration has abruptly dismissed all members of the independent National Science Board, which provides oversight and guidance to the National Science Foundation.
Board members received termination notices via email on Friday from the Presidential Personnel Office, stating their positions were ended immediately on behalf of President Trump.
“I wasn’t entirely surprised, to be honest,” dismissed board member Keivan Stassun said in an email response. The Vanderbilt University researcher called the decision “enormously disappointing.”
Established in 1950, the National Science Board serves as an advisory body to both the president and Congress on matters of science and engineering policy. The board also approves significant funding decisions and helps chart the NSF’s direction.
The board normally consists of 25 presidential appointees who serve overlapping six-year terms. The terminated scientists come from universities and private industry, with expertise spanning astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, and aerospace engineering.
Senator Maria Cantwell, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, condemned the action in a statement, calling it “a dangerous attack on the institutions and expertise that drive American innovation and discovery.”
Last year, the Trump administration proposed slashing the NSF’s $9 billion budget by more than half. While Congress preserved the foundation’s funding, similar dramatic cuts are being considered for the upcoming year.
Stassun suggested that eliminating the advisory board could make implementing such budget reductions easier. He warned the cuts could “eviscerate investments in fundamental research and in the training of the next generation of scientists and engineers for our nation.”
The science foundation has also been forced to relocate its headquarters to smaller facilities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced last year it would occupy the NSF’s former Alexandria, Virginia location.
The National Science Foundation referred comment requests to the White House, which has not responded to inquiries about the dismissals.
