Contents

• Introduction
• R&D Appropriations Overview
• Regular Appropriations
• Reconciliation
• The President's FY2026 Budget Proposal
• Government-Wide Federal R&D Funding
• R&D Funding by Agency and Department
• Department of Defense
• DOD RDT&E Funding by Character of Work
• Supplemental Funding: Reconciliation and Disaster Relief
• Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation
• National Institutes of Health
• NIH Restructuring
• Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
• Potential Impact on Science
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Reductions in Force
• Potential Impact on NASA's Science Account
• Potential Impact on NASA's Applied Research Portfolio
• Department of Energy
• Potential Impact on DOE's Science Account
• Potential Impact on National-Security-Related R&D
• Potential Impact on Energy-Related R&D
• Indirect Cost Rates
• National Science Foundation
• Funding Rates for R&D
• Investments in Research Infrastructure
• Priority Research Areas
• Conclusion

Summary

The U.S. government supports a broad range of scientific and engineering research and development (R&D). The purposes of this R&D include addressing national defense, public health, public safety, the environment, and energy security; advancing knowledge generally; developing the U.S. scientific and engineering workforce; strengthening the capacity of U.S. institutions and firms to conduct cutting-edge research and to develop innovative technologies; and enhancing the competitiveness of the United States in the global economy. Most of the R&D funded by the federal government is performed in support of the unique missions of individual funding agencies. Congress typically provides R&D appropriations through the annual appropriations process, including through 9 of the 12 regular appropriations bills, supplemental appropriations, or continuing resolutions.

Using information provided by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding funding for activities and assets characterized as R&D, CRS calculated that President Trump's budget proposal for FY2026 includes approximately $181.4 billion for R&D, $10.7 billion (-6%) below the FY2025 estimated level of $192.2 billion (see figure). The requested $181.4 billion, which includes advance and supplemental appropriations, would support federal investments in the conduct of R&D as well as R&D-related physical assets (such as the construction of R&D facilities or equipment).

Federal Research and Development Funding, FY2024-FY2026 Request (budget authority, in current dollars)

Source: CRS, calculated from Office of Management and Budget, email communication with author, July 2, 2025.

The majority of R&D funding is concentrated in a subset of federal agencies. For example, approximately 92% of the total R&D funding requested in the President's FY2026 budget would go to five agencies—the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF)—with DOD (62%) and NIH (15%), combined, accounting for 77% of all proposed federal R&D funding.

Under the President's FY2026 budget proposal, R&D funding would decrease, relative to FY2025 estimates, for four of the five agencies receiving the most R&D funding. The largest dollar decrease would be for NIH (down $19.0 billion, -41%, to $27.0 billion), and the largest percentage decrease would be for NSF (down $3.9 billion, -55%, to $3.1 billion). DOE R&D investments would decrease by $3.2 billion (-16%) to $16.7 billion, and NASA R&D investments would decrease by $3.8 billion (-34%) to $7.2 billion. Of the five agencies receiving the most R&D funding, DOD would see the only increase in R&D funding, relative to FY2025 estimates (up $21.0 billion, 23%, to $112.9 billion). According to OMB, DOD's budget request assumes $37.1 billion in supplemental R&D funding for FY2026, without which DOD R&D funding would decrease by $16.1 billion (-18%) compared to FY2025 amounts.

As it acts on the FY2026 appropriations process, Congress may consider a number of issues regarding the President's request. First, the President's FY2026 budget request appears to signal a shift in R&D funding away from civilian agencies to military components under DOD. Second, though Congress provided funding for R&D in FY2025 at FY2024 levels, the President's budget proposal estimates FY2025 R&D funding at 5% below the actual FY2024 amount, potentially signaling a shifting of resources away from R&D to non-R&D activities within agency accounts that support both, among other potential explanations. Third, federal agencies that support R&D may enter FY2026 with reduced staffing compared to FY2025 levels. Should Congress decide to maintain or increase current R&D funding levels, factors such as staffing reductions (as well as any future reductions) may affect how federal agencies execute their budget authority for FY2026.

Introduction

The federal government has played an important role in supporting research and development (R&D) efforts that have led to scientific breakthroughs and new technologies, from the internet and communications satellites to defenses against disease. Generally, rationales for past, current, and future federal R&D support have focused on the potential returns on such investments related to national defense, public health, public safety, the environment, and energy security; advancing knowledge generally; developing the U.S. scientific and engineering workforce; and strengthening the innovative capacity and global competitiveness of U.S. institutions and firms.

The 119^th Congress is engaged in a range of legislative activities focused on the U.S. R&D enterprise, including authorizations, appropriations, and oversight of federal R&D programs and policies. Executive and legislative branch decisions about the prioritization of R&D have broadly included long-standing agency mission objectives and efforts to promote the competitiveness of the United States in the global economy. In recent years, federal budget caps have also informed such decisionmaking—both in the context of the entire federal budget and among competing needs within the federal R&D portfolio.¹

There is no single, centralized source of federal R&D funds. Rather, the U.S. government supports a broad range of scientific and engineering R&D, the majority of which is performed in support of the unique missions of individual funding agencies. Each agency typically develops its R&D budget internally as part of its overall budget development process (and in coordination with other agencies for multiagency initiatives and programs). R&D funding may be included either in appropriations accounts that are entirely devoted to R&D or in accounts that also include funding for non-R&D activities. Agency R&D budgets may include funding for the conduct of R&D, facilities and equipment for R&D, or both. Agency budgets are reviewed, revised, and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and become part of the President's annual budget submission to Congress. The federal R&D budget is then calculated by aggregating the R&D activities of all federal agencies.

Congress plays a central role in defining the nation's R&D priorities as it makes decisions about the level and allocation of R&D funding—overall, within agencies, and for specific programs (the text box below provides definitions of selected terms associated with federal R&D funding). As Congress acts on the FY2026 appropriations process, it faces two overarching issues regarding support for R&D: the amount of the federal budget to be spent on federal R&D and the prioritization and allocation of the available funding.

This report begins with the status of FY2026 appropriations, including an overview of the regular appropriations bills that typically include R&D funding as well as additional legislation in the 119^th Congress that may affect FY2026 appropriations. The report also provides a high-level discussion of the overall funding level of R&D in President Trump's FY2026 budget request, followed by analyses of requested R&D funding across the following five agencies and departments that account for approximately 92% of total federal R&D funding requested for FY2026: the Department of Defense (DOD; 62%), the National Institutes of Health (NIH; 15%), the Department of Energy (DOE; 9%), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA; 4%), and the National Science Foundation (NSF; 2%).

Unless otherwise noted in this report, all current- and prior-year funding totals are expressed in current dollars. Likewise, all references to R&D funding amounts for FY2024, FY2025, and FY2026 follow the accounting methodology used by OMB in preparing the President's FY2026 budget proposal, which is outlined in the Technical Supplement to the 2026 Budget:

• FY2024 amounts include actual transactions and balances, as recorded in agency accounts;
• FY2025 amounts include enacted appropriations provided by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4, Division A), and "may also include indefinite appropriations on the basis of amounts likely to be required"; and
• FY2026 amounts include requested funding levels for all programs, including advance appropriations—notably, anticipated amounts provided by an FY2025 budget reconciliation measure (discussed further in "Reconciliation").²

R&D Appropriations Overview

This section provides an overview of the regular appropriations bills that typically contain federal R&D funding.⁴ When addressing FY2026 appropriations legislation, this report refers only to those bills as passed by the Senate or House during the 119^th Congress.

Congress makes decisions about R&D funding through the authorization and appropriations processes. In practice, such legislative action primarily occurs at the individual agency, department, and program level, as Congress considers R&D funding levels as one element of an agency's overall budget. Funding for R&D, therefore, is often included in appropriations line items that also include non-R&D activities. This can complicate attempts to determine specific amounts allocated to R&D as a portion of agency, program, or account-level funding totals specified in appropriations law.

In addition to this report, CRS produces individual reports on each of the appropriations bills and for a number of federal agencies. These reports can be accessed via the CRS website at http://www.crs.gov/iap/appropriations.

Regular Appropriations

Of the 12 regular appropriations bills, 9 typically provide annual appropriations for the agencies and departments that would, together, receive the majority of R&D funding in the FY2026 budget proposal. Table 1 shows the corresponding regular appropriations bills that provide primary funding for each department and agency, including its R&D activities.

As of the date of this report, in the 119^th Congress, the House has passed two of these nine appropriations bills—the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 3944), and the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 4016), and the Senate has passed an amended version of H.R. 3944 that consolidated two of the nine appropriations bills—Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (Division A) and Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026 (Division B). The status of each appropriations bill is available on the CRS web page "Appropriations Status Table," available at http://www.crs.gov/AppropriationsStatusTable/Index.

Reconciliation

Outside of regular FY2026 appropriations bills, additional legislative activity of the 119^th Congress may impact federal R&D funding levels for FY2026. For example, the FY2025 reconciliation act signed into law on July 4, 2025 (P.L. 119-21), included provisions pertaining to R&D funding levels at DOD and DOE (see Titles II and V, respectively).

Additional provisions relating to tax incentives for certain business expenses related to R&D investments are also included in Section 70302 of P.L. 119-21. Though not directly tied to federal R&D funding levels, such provisions may impact R&D spending levels more broadly across the R&D ecosystem.

The President's FY2026 Budget Proposal

On May 2, 2025, President Trump sent his initial FY2026 appropriations request to Congress, which included broad budgetary outlines, reductions, additions, and initiatives.⁵ On May 30, 2025, OMB released the Technical Supplement to the FY2026 Budget, which included the Appendix and Crosscut Tables, and provided additional details regarding amounts for R&D included in the President's request.⁶

The Technical Supplement to the FY2026 Budget did not include an analysis of proposed government-wide R&D funding levels, which, in prior years, has been included in the Analytical Perspectives supplement.⁷ Rather, CRS calculated the requested federal-government-wide R&D funding totals described in this section using information provided directly to CRS by OMB.⁸ According to OMB, proposed R&D funding amounts included in the President's budget request include supplemental and advance appropriations.

Using information provided by OMB, CRS calculated that the President's proposed FY2026 budget includes approximately $181.4 billion for R&D, $10.7 billion (6%) below the FY2025 estimated level of $192.2 billion (see Table 2).⁹ The requested $181.4 billion would support federal investments in the conduct of R&D as well as R&D-related physical assets (such as the construction of R&D facilities or equipment).

Using information provided by OMB, CRS also calculated that total estimated R&D funding for FY2025 ($192.2 billion) represents a 5% decrease from actual R&D funding reported for FY2024. CRS used information provided by OMB to calculate actual R&D funding totals for FY2024 (i.e., R&D-related transactions and balances recorded by agency accounts) and estimated R&D funding totals for FY2025 (see Figure 1). According to OMB, estimated R&D funding for FY2025 includes amounts provided by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4, Division A) and "may also include indefinite appropriations on the basis of amounts likely to be required."¹⁰

Figure 1. Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding, FY2024-FY2026 Request (budget authority, in current dollars)

Source: CRS calculated R&D funding totals using information provided by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); OMB, email communication with author, July 2, 2025. Notes: FY2024 total includes actual transactions and balances, as recorded in agency accounts; FY2025 total includes enacted amounts provided by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4, Division A), and "may also include indefinite appropriations on the basis of amounts likely to be required"; and FY2026 total includes proposed appropriations for all programs, per the description in OMB, Technical Supplement to the 2026 Budget: Appendix, May 30, 2025, p. 4, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/appendix_fy2026.pdf.

Though P.L. 119-4 appropriated FY2025 funding for the executive branch at FY2024 levels, several scenarios, or a combination thereof, could account for the reported 5% decrease. Given available information, CRS is unable to determine the exact cause. One reason for the decrease could be that FY2024 actual levels include funds appropriated for prior fiscal years. For example, Congress has authorized DOD to obligate (i.e., commit funds to be spent for specific purposes) research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) appropriations over a two-year period. This means that FY2023 appropriations may be obligated and/or expended in FY2023 and FY2024. Though not included in FY2024 appropriations legislation, amounts obligated and/or expended during FY2024 would be reflected in actual FY2024 levels reported by DOD. Another reason could be that supplemental funding provided for R&D in FY2024 may be reported as actual FY2024 R&D spending, which would increase the total above the amount provided for FY2024 through regular appropriations. Additionally, for FY2025, the estimated R&D spending level reported by OMB could be lower than the enacted level because it includes rescissions of unobligated balances in R&D accounts funded by FY2025 appropriations or because it includes transfers of budget authority between R&D and non-R&D accounts (above or below the reporting threshold). OMB's estimated R&D spending level for FY2025 could also reflect the Administration's shifting of funds away from R&D to support other activities within accounts that are hybrid in nature (e.g., support both R&D- and non-R&D-related activities).

The following analysis of the President's FY2026 request examines proposed federal R&D investments from two perspectives—the federal-government-wide level and the individual agency or department level. Federal-government-wide analysis examines R&D funding comparisons across agencies and departments and potential shifts in the Administration's R&D priorities writ large. Individual agency and department analyses examine R&D funding and priorities at program and account levels, and highlight selected R&D policy considerations to inform congressional appropriations and oversight activities.

Each perspective may provide unique insights and also involve certain limitations. For example, though government-wide analysis may reveal the Administration's overarching R&D-related priorities (e.g., defense vs. non-defense R&D investments), it may not capture certain program or account-level details (e.g., proposed program terminations) visible only when examining individual department or agency funding requests.

Analyzing federal-wide R&D funding levels in the President's FY2026 proposal involves a number of considerations, some of which may relate to technical details regarding budgetary data contained in the request, among other potential issues. Selected factors and considerations are detailed in the following text box.

Government-Wide Federal R&D Funding

Under the President's FY2026 budget proposal, five agencies would account for approximately 92% of total federal R&D funding—DOD, NIH, DOE, NASA, and NSF—with DOD (62%) and NIH (15%), combined, accounting for 77% of all proposed federal R&D funding. R&D funding would decrease, relative to FY2025 estimates, for four of these five agencies (see Figure 2 and Table 3). DOD would see the only increase in R&D funding. Funding-level changes for each of these five agencies are as follows:

• NIH: NIH would see the largest dollar decrease in R&D funding—down $19.0 billion (-41%) to $27.0 billion.
• NSF: NSF would see the largest percentage decrease in R&D funding—down $3.9 billion (-55%) to $3.1 billion.
• DOE: DOE R&D investments would decrease by $3.2 billion (-16%) to $16.7 billion.
• NASA: NASA R&D investments would decrease by $3.8 billion (-34%) to $7.2 billion.
• DOD: DOD R&D investments would increase by $21 billion (23%) to $112.9 billion—largely as a result of supplemental appropriations that the request anticipates will be provided by P.L. 119-21 (for additional details, see "Reconciliation" and "Department of Defense").¹³ Absent the anticipated $37.1 billion provided to DOD through reconciliation, the requested funding level for DOD R&D in FY2026 would decrease by $16.1 billion (-18%) compared to the FY2025 amount.

Absent the $37.1 billion in reconciliation funding that the President's FY2026 proposal anticipates, requested R&D investments in FY2026 would be $143.4 billion—a decrease of $48.7 billion (-25%) compared to estimated R&D investments in FY2025.

The President's proposed FY2026 budget also includes R&D funding for a number of other federal departments and agencies that, together, would comprise the remaining 8% of total R&D funding requested (see Figure 2 and Table 3).

Figure 2. Crosscut Budget Amounts for Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding, President's FY2026 Request Compared to FY2025 Levels (budget authority, in current dollars)

Source: CRS calculated R&D funding totals using information provided by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); OMB, email communication with author, July 2, 2025. Notes: FY2025 totals include enacted amounts provided by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4, Division A), and "may also include indefinite appropriations on the basis of amounts likely to be required"; FY2026 totals include proposed appropriations for all programs, per the description in OMB, Technical Supplement to the 2026 Budget: Appendix, May 30, 2025, p. 4, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/appendix_fy2026.pdf. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding. Program- or account-level totals shown in italics are considered non-adds, that is, components included for illustrative purposes and not counted as separate line items when generating figure totals. Departments and agencies are listed in descending order according to greatest dollar amount change from FY2025 to the FY2026 request.

R&D Funding by Agency and Department

Detailed analysis of R&D budgets requested for DOD, NIH, DOE, NASA, and NSF follows. Agencies are presented in order of the size of their FY2026 R&D budget requests, the largest presented first.

Because of the manner in which agencies report budget data to Congress, it can be difficult to identify the portion of program- or account-level funds that specifically support R&D-related activities. Consequently, the level of detail regarding R&D funding presented in the agency analyses that follow may vary according to available information and how R&D funding is provided through the various agencies' accounts. Further, variation exists across agencies in the types of activities considered as R&D related. For example, DOD reports R&D activities under the umbrella of RDT&E-related activities, whereas other agencies, like NASA, may include operational expenses in accounts generally described as supporting R&D. Such variations and inconsistencies at the individual agency level may lead to limitations when R&D-related data are compared across agencies.

R&D data presented in the agency analyses in this report may also differ from R&D data in the President's budget or otherwise provided by OMB (e.g., data presented in Table 3). These differences are, at least in part, due to OMB's inclusion of advance and supplemental appropriations in the FY2026 budget request, whereas funding totals reported by individual agencies may not include advance or supplemental appropriations amounts. When agencies received advance or supplemental appropriations for the fiscal years described in this report, amounts are stated in table footnotes and accompanying analysis.

Department of Defense¹⁴

DOD's mission is "to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security."¹⁵ To maintain technological superiority on the battlefield, DOD relies on scientific and technical knowledge developed in large measure through research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) funded by the department and performed by industry, universities, federal laboratories, and others. The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on all RDT&E activities and programs and has the mission of advancing technology and innovation for the military services and DOD.

Most of DOD's RDT&E funding is appropriated in Title IV (Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation) of the annual defense appropriations bill, which includes appropriations for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, a defense-wide RDT&E account, and the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. The defense-wide account includes the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Office of the Secretary of Defense, and 15 other DOD organizations, as well as classified funding.

RDT&E funds are also appropriated for programs in other titles of the defense appropriations act. For example, RDT&E funds are appropriated in Title VI as part of the Chemical Agents and Munitions Destruction Program, the Defense Health Program, and the Office of the Inspector General.

For FY2026, President Trump's proposed budget includes $142.0 billion for DOD's Title IV RDT&E accounts, $780 million (1%) above the FY2025 enacted amount of $141.2 billion (Table 4). As shown in Figure 3, the Air Force's Title IV RDT&E account would receive the largest increase, $5.2 billion (11%), above the FY2025 enacted level, while the Space Force's account would receive the largest decrease, $3.1 billion (17%), below the FY2025 enacted level.

The overall amount requested for RDT&E in FY2026 ($143.2 billion) is slightly smaller (0.3% below) than the FY2025 enacted level ($143.7 billion). Table 4 does not include funding provided by P.L. 119-21, and, therefore, the numbers differ from those provided by OMB and used in the previous section. Thus, the total amount requested for DOD RDT&E in FY2026 is $30.3 billion more than the OMB-reported R&D investment level requested for DOD in FY2026 ($112.9 billion; see Table 3). This difference could reflect the Administration's proposed prioritization of funding for testing and evaluation activities, which OMB does not include in its accounting of R&D activities within the context of the federal budget process (see the text box "Federal Research and Development (R&D)-Related Terms Used in the Federal Budget Process").

Figure 3. Department of Defense (DOD) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) Funding by Account/Program, President's FY2026 Request Compared to FY2025 Levels (budget authority, in current dollars)

Source: CRS calculated the dollar and percentage change by comparing RDT&E funding requested for FY2026 (see Office of Management and Budget [OMB], Technical Supplement to the 2026 Budget: Department of Defense Appendix, June 2025, pp. 24, 33, and 64-73) and RDT&E funding enacted for FY2025 (see P.L. 119-4, §§1405 and 1407). Notes: Comparison is based on DOD RDT&E amounts requested for FY2026 and enacted for FY2025, which do not include supplemental disaster funding or funding associated with reconciliation. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding.

On July 18, 2025, the House passed H.R. 4016, the Defense Appropriations Act, 2026. H.R. 4016 would provide $147.7 billion for DOD's Title IV RDT&E accounts, $6.5 billion (5%) above the FY2025 enacted amount and $5.7 billion (4%) above the FY2026 requested level (Table 4). The Air Force's Title IV RDT&E account would receive the largest increase, $4.3 billion (9%), above the FY2025 enacted level, while the Army's account would receive the largest decrease, $760.9 million (5%) below the FY2025 enacted level. H.R. 4016 would provide $149.7 billion for DOD RDT&E overall, $6.0 billion (4%) more than the FY2025 enacted level.

In addition, H.R. 4016 would provide $5.7 billion (4%) more for DOD's Title IV RDT&E accounts than the Trump Administration requested for FY2026. In comparison to the President's FY2026 budget request, the Space Force's Title IV RDT&E account would receive the largest increase, $3.6 billion (24%), above the FY2026 requested level, while the Army's account would receive the largest decrease, $988.1 million (7%) below the FY2026 request. H.R. 4016 would provide $6.5 billion (5%) more than the Trump Administration requested overall for DOD RDT&E in FY2026.

DOD RDT&E Funding by Character of Work

Congress is often interested in examining DOD's RDT&E funding by budget activity code, which describes the character of work supported (e.g., basic research). In particular, the budget activity codes designated as 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 (basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development, respectively) constitute DOD's science and technology (S&T) funding and represent the more research-oriented part of DOD's RDT&E activities. Some members of the defense community see ensuring adequate support for S&T as imperative to maintaining U.S. military superiority into the future. For FY2026, the Trump Administration requests $19.2 billion in S&T funding, $2.1 billion (10%) below the enacted level of $21.3 billion. The largest decrease would be for applied research (Budget Activity 6.2); the requested amount of $7 billion is $1.7 billion (20%) below the FY2025 enacted level of $8.7 billion.¹⁶

Budget Activities 6.4 and 6.5 focus on the development of specific weapon systems or components for which an operational need has been determined and an acquisition program established. Budget Activity 6.6 provides management support, including support for test and evaluation facilities. Budget Activity 6.7 supports the development of improvements in existing operational systems. As part of DOD's FY2021 budget request, a new budget activity, 6.8, was added to support software and digital technology pilot programs. Under the President's request, funding for Budget Activity 6.4 ($30.8 billion), which supports advanced component development and prototypes, would decline by $5.2 billion (-14%) compared to the FY2025 level ($36.0 billion). System development and demonstration funding (Budget Activity 6.5; $27.5 billion) would increase by $3.0 billion (12%) compared to the FY2025 level ($24.5 billion).¹⁷

Supplemental Funding: Reconciliation and Disaster Relief

On July 4, 2025, H.R. 1 was enacted as P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 reconciliation act. Title II of P.L. 119-21 provided $156.2 billion in defense funding in FY2025, to remain available until September 30, 2029, for shipbuilding, air and missile defenses, munitions and supply chains, and other military capabilities. A portion of such funds is likely to support RDT&E. For example, P.L. 119-21 provided $2 billion "for the expansion of Defense Innovation Unit scaling of commercial technology for military use"; $250 million "for development and testing of directed energy capabilities by the Under Secretary for Research and Engineering"; $650 million "for the expansion of Mission Capabilities office joint prototyping and experimentation activities for military innovation"; $250 million "for the advancement of the artificial intelligence ecosystem"; and $250 million "for the acceleration of the Quantum Benchmarking Initiative." The President's budget request includes $37 billion in reconciliation funding for FY2026. Supplemental funding provided to DOD through reconciliation, however, is available to be expended until September 30, 2029, and it is unclear whether or not DOD will expend the $37 billion in FY2026 or over multiple fiscal years. Accounting for reconciliation funds may be a challenge for oversight and the comparison of RDT&E funding over time.

Additionally, President Trump's FY2026 request includes $110.7 million in supplemental disaster relief funding for two RDT&E accounts. Specifically, the request proposes $41.4 million for the Army's Title IV RDT&E account to address "expenses related to the consequences of severe storms and wave overwash" and $69.3 million for the Air Force's account for "expenses related to the consequences of Typhoon Mawar."¹⁸

Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation

On May 27, 2025, the Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum that detailed plans to reorganize the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (ODOT&E) based on a "comprehensive internal review [that] has identified redundant, nonessential, non-statutory functions within ODOT&E." According to the memorandum, "ODOT&E will deliver its core statutory function through a reduced staff of 30 civilian positions, with no more than one Senior Executive Service (SES) member and 15 assigned military personnel." It further asserts that "these actions will save more than $300 million per year."¹⁹ The FY2026 budget request proposes $318.1 million for ODOT&E, which is a decrease of $30.6 million (-9%) from the FY2025 enacted level. Per the Trump Administration, the changes outlined in the memorandum related to ODOT&E may not be reflected in the budget request. Specifically, the President's budget states, "in the current year and the budget year, detailed budget estimates and estimates of full-time equivalent employment may not reflect all of the management and administrative actions underway or planned in Federal agencies."²⁰

National Institutes of Health²¹

Within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), NIH's mission is "to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability."²² NIH is the main research agency of HHS, and has been the largest single public funder of health and medical research in the world.²³ NIH comprises 27 separate institutes and centers (ICs) and the Office of the Director (OD). Of these, 24 ICs and the OD manage research programs, while 3 provide infrastructure support for R&D activities. Each research IC plans and manages its own research programs in coordination with OD.²⁴ As of FY2022, nearly 82% of the NIH budget supported extramural research performed by more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions in every U.S. state and around the world.²⁵ Approximately 11% of the NIH budget supported intramural research performed by nearly 6,000 scientists in its own research facilities, mostly on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD.²⁶ NIH also houses a separate independent agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).

Most regular appropriations for NIH are provided through the annual Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations Act. In the LHHS Act, NIH receives funding under headings that align with its 24 research ICs. The LHHS also provides NIH funding to accounts for the OD, Buildings and Facilities, the 21^st Century Cures Act Innovation Account, and ARPA-H. NIH receives some funding under unique transfer authorities (the Public Health Service [PHS] Evaluation set-aside)²⁷ and budget enforcement rules (21^st Century Cures Act Innovation Account).²⁸ Additionally, NIH has received certain smaller amounts of funds from the Interior/Environment Appropriations Act and a mandatory appropriation for Type 1 diabetes research.²⁹

For FY2026, President Trump is requesting a total NIH program level (i.e., all funding sources) of $27.9 billion, a 40.6% reduction from the FY2025 estimated program level of $47.0 billion (see Figure 4), taking into account a proposed restructuring described below.

Figure 4. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Funding by Account/Program, President's FY2026 Request Compared to FY2025 Levels (budget authority, in current dollars)

Source: CRS analysis of NIH, Overview of FY2026 President's Budget, pp. 65-67, https://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/pdfs/FY26/br/NIH%20FY%202026%20CJ%20Overview.pdf. Notes: N/A = not applicable. Figure is organized by the proposed new institutes and centers (ICs) included in the President's FY2026 budget request. For each of the proposed new ICs, CRS analyzed FY2025 enacted funding levels and calculated comparable totals according to the proposed structure in the President's FY2026 request. Thus, FY2025 totals used to calculate the dollar and percentage change displayed in this figure do not reflect enacted law. The figure also does not show the ICs or other components that would be eliminated or moved out of NIH under the FY2026 proposal; therefore, the total change amounts at the bottom reflect eliminations and transfers that are not displayed here; components do not sum to the subtotal and totals shown. Final and estimated FY2025 and FY2026 funding levels reflect most transfers and other adjustments. By convention, the amount of transfers to the Public Health Service Evaluation set-aside are not subtracted from the agencies' appropriations in budget tables. In general, amounts provided to NIH for emergency requirements are excluded from these totals and, therefore, differ from amounts reported by the Office of Management and Budget, which are included in Table 3.

NIH Restructuring

The President's FY2026 budget proposes to reduce NIH's 24 current research ICs to eight research ICs. Four ICs would be eliminated, while 19 would be consolidated into 8 restructured ICs (see Figure 5). Two NIH components would be moved out of NIH to other parts of HHS: the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and ARPA-H (see next section). Table 5 shows total funding amounts requested for NIH, given that R&D funding is generally provided across multiple appropriations accounts, and provides a comparison of the FY2026 proposed funding with FY2024 final and FY2025 estimated funding. It displays funding organized by the proposed new ICs for FY2024, FY2025, and FY2026, along with FY2024 and FY2025 funding as enacted based on the prior IC structure (shown in the table as non-adds, i.e., components included for illustrative purposes and not counted as separate line items when generating totals). The table also shows NIH funding data for certain transfers or other budget authorities as summarized earlier. In FY2026, all eight proposed ICs would see decreases (ranging from -21% to -44%) from prior comparable FY2024 and FY2025 levels.

Figure 5. Proposed National Institutes of Health (NIH) Reorganization for FY2026

Source: Department of Health and Human Services, Fiscal Year 2026 Budget in Brief, p. 22, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/fy-2026-budget-in-brief.pdf.

Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health

In FY2022, Congress established ARPA-H within NIH to support milestone-based research aimed at driving health innovation. ARPA-H is an independent agency and is not considered an NIH IC.³⁰ However, ARPA-H is placed within NIH by statute and has received appropriations in an NIH account for both FY2024 and FY2025, as shown in Table 5.³¹ The FY2026 budget proposes moving ARPA-H out of NIH under a new Assistant Secretary for a Healthy Future (ASHF) with an FY2026 funding level of $945 million.³² This compares with an estimated FY2025 funding level of $1.5 billion.

Potential Impact on Science

In terms of scientific impacts, NIH estimates that the FY2026 funding level would support 4,312 new competing research grants, a decrease of 29.3% from the number of new competing grants supported by the FY2025 funding level (6,095 grants) and a greater decrease from the FY2024 level of 10,086 new competing grants. The FY2026 NIH budget request proposes to continue an FY2025 policy to reserve half of NIH's budget allocation for competing research project grants for awards that fully fund the grant across multiple years. The competing average cost for a research project grant was $969,000 for FY2025 compared to $598,000 for FY2024, accounting for the multiyear grant awards, and thus resulted in lower total grants estimated for FY2025.³³ In FY2026, all other categories of research would receive decreases in funding compared to FY2025 levels, ranging from 26% to 43%, including NIH's support of research centers, training, and intramural research.³⁴

National Aeronautics and Space Administration³⁵

The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (P.L. 85-568) established NASA to conduct civilian space and aeronautics activities. NASA has research programs in planetary science, Earth science, astrophysics, heliophysics, the biological and physical sciences, aeronautics, and astronaut health and performance, as well as development programs for future human spacecraft and for multipurpose space technology, such as advanced propulsion systems. In addition, NASA operates the International Space Station (ISS) as a facility for R&D and other purposes.

Regular appropriations for NASA are provided through the annual Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations acts. NASA is funded through nine major accounts, and the amount of R&D funded through those accounts varies. Some accounts (such as Science and Space Technology) fund R&D almost exclusively, while others (such as Exploration and Space Operations) fund a mix of R&D and non-R&D activities (e.g., testing and demonstration).

For FY2026, President Trump is requesting $18.8 billion for NASA, a decrease of $6.0 billion (-24%; see Figure 6 and Table 6) from the FY2025 enacted amount provided by P.L. 119-4 ($24.8 billion).³⁶ NASA received an additional $10 billion in FY2025 appropriations through P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 reconciliation act, for specific activities, although the law does not specify the corresponding appropriations accounts for this funding.

Under the President's FY2026 budget proposal for NASA, the Exploration account would receive the only increase: $647 million (9%) compared to FY2025 levels. The FY2026 request would reduce funding for all other accounts. Compared to FY2025 enacted levels provided by P.L. 119-4, the Science account would see the largest dollar decrease, down $3.4 billion (-47%), and the STEM Engagement account would see the largest percentage decrease, down $1.4 billion (-100%).

Figure 6. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Funding by Account/Program, President's FY2026 Request Compared to FY2025 Levels (budget authority, in current dollars)

Source: CRS calculated the dollar and percentage changes by comparing NASA funding requested for FY2026 with enacted FY2025 funding levels specified by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (Division A, P.L. 119-4). Requested FY2026 funding is from NASA, FY 2026 Budget Technical Supplement, p. SUM-5, https://www.nasa.gov/fy-2026-budget-request/. Notes: STEM = science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; C&R = Compliance and Restoration. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding. FY2024 totals include actual transactions and balances, as recorded in agency accounts. FY2025 totals reflect enacted amounts specified by the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (Division A, P.L. 119-4), and do not include the $10 billion in supplemental appropriations provided by P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 reconciliation act, which does not specify how the funding should be allocated across appropriations accounts. FY2026 totals include proposed appropriations for all programs, per the description provided in NASA, FY 2026 Budget Technical Supplement, p. SUM-5, https://www.nasa.gov/fy-2026-budget-request/.

Table 6 reflects total funding amounts requested for NASA, given that R&D funding is generally provided across multiple appropriations accounts. Selected themes from the FY2026 request are discussed below.

Reductions in Force

NASA's civilian workforce, two-thirds of which is in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations, averaged 17,600 employees over a recent five-year period.³⁷ The FY2026 request proposes reducing NASA's workforce by about 5,500 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions compared to the agency's recent five-year average workforce.³⁸ The proposed FTE reductions would affect all 10 NASA centers to varying degrees, as shown in Table 7.

Similarly, the proposed FTE reductions would affect all NASA accounts, although some would be more heavily impacted than others. For instance, the FY2026 request proposes reducing FTE positions in the Science account by about 1,400 (-49%) compared to the FY2025 estimated number (2,841 FTE positions), while the proposed reduction for Exploration would be 137 FTE positions (4% less than the FY2025 estimate of 3,331 FTE positions).³⁹

In June 2025, NASA began efforts to reduce its workforce through voluntary separation incentives, including early retirement offers and the Deferred Resignation Program (DRP).⁴⁰ At least 64 Members of the House of Representatives have expressed concern that NASA has proceeded with such efforts before Congress has enacted appropriations. These Members, in a letter to NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy (who is also the Secretary of Transportation), asked NASA to take "no actions" to implement proposed funding cuts or "encourage or effectuate actions to meet the proposed workforce reductions in the FY2026 budget request ... until Congress enacts full-year appropriations for FY2026 through September 30^th, 2026."⁴¹

The window to opt in to the most recent round of voluntary separation incentives closed in July 2025. NASA reports that 2,904 employees requested use of these voluntary separation incentives as of July 31, 2025.⁴² Reportedly, of the 2,904 employees, about 2,150 are "senior-ranking" officials.⁴³ The number of departures varies between NASA's accounts, as described in Table 7. This table also compares the number of departures to the FY2025 estimated number of FTE positions in that account and the FY2026 number proposed by the Trump Administration.

Potential Impact on NASA's Science Account

NASA's Science account largely supports R&D activities in Earth science, planetary science, astrophysics, heliophysics, and biological and physical sciences. For FY2026, the Trump Administration proposed reducing this account's funding by $3.4 billion compared to FY2025 estimated levels and cancelling "over 40 lower-priority missions" that include missions currently in early development stages and those currently in space.⁴⁴ Proposed cancellations include Chandra X-Ray Observatory, an X-ray telescope currently in orbit; Mars Sample Return, a planned mission to return samples from Mars; DAVINCI and VERITAS, both spacecraft in development with the goal of studying Venus; and HelioSwarm, a planned constellation of spacecraft and satellites intended to study the Sun.⁴⁵ Proposed reductions for Science subaccounts (compared to FY2024 levels) include the following:⁴⁶

• Earth Sciences: For FY2026, the requested amount is $1.0 billion, a reduction of $1.1 billion (-52%) compared to FY2024 actual levels ($2.1 billion).
• Planetary Sciences: For FY2026, the requested amount is $1.9 billion, a reduction of $873 million (-32%) compared to FY2024 actual levels ($2.8 billion).
• Astrophysics: For FY2026, the requested amount is $523 million, a reduction of $1.0 billion (-66%) compared to FY2024 actual levels ($1.5 billion).
• Heliophysics: For FY2026, the requested amount is $433 million, a reduction of $373 million (-46%) compared to FY2024 actual levels ($805 million).
• Biological and Physical Sciences: For FY2026, the requested amount is $25 million, a reduction of $62 million (-71%) compared to FY2024 actual levels ($88 million).

Potential Impact on NASA's Applied Research Portfolio

The Aeronautics and Space Technology accounts include much of NASA's applied R&D portfolio. According to the NASA FY2025 budget estimate, the Aeronautics account supports efforts to "improve efficiency and reduce the noise and emissions of commercial aircraft; advance the safety, capacity, and efficiency of air transportation; and enhance aviation as an economic engine."⁴⁷ According to the NASA FY2025 budget estimate, the Space Technology account supports the development of cross-cutting technology for future space missions in partnership with small and large businesses and academia.⁴⁸ The FY2026 request proposes reducing funding for Aeronautics by about 37% (about $346 million) and for Space Technology by about 48% ($531 million) compared to FY2025 levels. As part of this proposed reduction for Aeronautics, the FY2026 request proposes shifting "attention and resources for climate-focused 'green-aviation' projects and underperforming space propulsion projects" to "development of air traffic control enhancements and technology projects that enable a transition to private sector research and development."⁴⁹The Trump Administration also proposes shifting to ground testing and modeling in place of more costly flight demonstrations for some of its aeronautics projects.⁵⁰

Department of Energy⁵¹

DOE was established in 1977 by the Department of Energy Organization Act (P.L. 95-91), which combined energy-related programs from a variety of agencies, particularly defense-related nuclear programs that dated back to the Manhattan Project. Today, DOE conducts various activities, including basic scientific research in fields ranging from nuclear physics to the biological and environmental sciences; basic and applied R&D relating to energy production and use; and R&D on nuclear weapons, nuclear nonproliferation, and defense nuclear reactors. The department has a system of 17 national laboratories, mostly operated by contractors, located around the country.⁵²

The Administration's FY2026 budget request for DOE includes $17.8 billion for R&D and related activities, including programs in three broad categories: science, national security, and energy. This request is 15.6% less than the comparable enacted FY2025 amount of $21.1 billion (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. Selected Department of Energy (DOE) R&D Funding by Account/Program, President's FY2026 Request Compared to FY2025 Levels (budget authority, in current dollars)

Source: CRS calculated the dollar and percentage changes by comparing DOE research and development (R&D) funding requested for FY2026 with estimated FY2025 funding levels contained in DOE, Summary Budget Documents FY 2026, Statistical Tables, 2025, https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/doe-fy-2026-budget-approps-congressional-control-v5.pdf. Notes: RT&E = Research, Technology, and Engineering; Def. Environmental Cleanup Tech. Dev. = Defense Environmental Cleanup Technology Development; CESER = Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response. Program- or account-level totals shown in italics are considered non-adds, that is, components included for illustrative purposes and not counted as separate line items when generating figure totals. Components may not sum to totals because of rounding. DOE R&D funding totals may differ from amounts reported by the Office of Management and Budget, which are included in Table 3.

Table 8 provides R&D funding amounts for DOE accounts/programs that CRS identified as typically providing R&D funding. It does not reflect total funding amounts requested for DOE, of which R&D is a portion. For additional information related to DOE funding, see CRS Report R48599, Energy and Water Development: FY2026 Appropriations, by Mark Holt and Anna E. Normand.

Potential Impact on DOE's Science Account

The Administration is requesting $7.1 billion for the science account in FY2026, a reduction of $1.1 billion (-14%) from FY2025. The Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program, under the Science account, would see the largest reduction in funding, reduced from $900 million in FY2024 to $395 million (-56%) in FY2026. Specifically, BER research in environmental system sciences, atmospheric system research, earth system modeling, and data management, as well as the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility, would be eliminated. BER would instead focus on "transformative science and scientific user facilities to harness the genomic potential found in nature, achieve a predictive understanding of complex systems, and provide the fundamental research leading to solutions for the Nation's energy and national security challenges."⁵³

Potential Impact on National-Security-Related R&D

The request for DOE's national-security-related R&D is $7.3 billion, requesting an increase of $1.3 billion (22.9%) from the FY2025 estimated levels. In the Weapons Activities account, the request for Stockpile Research, Technology, and Engineering would increase by $1.0 billion. Meanwhile, the budget for Defense Environmental Cleanup Technology Development would see a decrease of 55%, and Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation R&D would decrease by 4%, both compared to FY2025 levels.

Potential Impact on Energy-Related R&D

The Administration is requesting $3.4 billion for energy-related R&D in FY2026, a reduction of 51.2% compared to FY2025 estimated budgets. The largest reduction, $2.6 billion (-73.9%), would occur in the energy efficiency and renewable energy accounts. The Administration is requesting $200 million for Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which supports research on high-risk but potentially transformative technology, a reduction of $260 million (-56.5%) from the FY2025 level of $460 million.⁵⁴ According to DOE, this level would reduce funding "to a fiscally responsible level for high risk, high reward research advancing reliable energy technologies and other critical and emerging technologies."⁵⁵

Indirect Cost Rates

On April 11, 2025, DOE announced "updated policies, procedures, and general decision-making criteria for establishing indirect cost rates when awarding grants to IHEs [institutions of higher education]."⁵⁶ According to the policy, DOE will no longer use the negotiated indirect cost rate for grants awarded to IHEs; instead, DOE is setting a standardized 15% indirect cost rate for all grant awards to IHEs.⁵⁷ A federal lawsuit filed by several affected IHEs cited previously negotiated indirect cost rates ranging up to 62%.⁵⁸ Lower indirect cost rates may affect institutions' assessment of conducting research for DOE and may change their willingness to apply for grants in the future.⁵⁹ Separately, DOE issued policies on May 8, 2025, that also changed the indirect cost rates DOE would pay to state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations.⁶⁰ Changes in indirect cost rates may affect the overall budget that IHEs, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations receive from DOE to conduct research. This could influence their assessment of whether it is financially prudent to apply for funding in the future, potentially impacting DOE's future research programs.⁶¹

National Science Foundation⁶²

NSF supports basic research and education in the nonmedical sciences and engineering. Congress established NSF as an independent federal agency in 1950 to "promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense; and for other purposes."⁶³ NSF is a major source of federal support for U.S. university research, especially in computer and information science and the geosciences and social sciences.⁶⁴ It is also responsible for significant shares of the federal STEM education program portfolio and federal STEM student aid and support.⁶⁵

Regular appropriations for NSF are provided through the annual Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations acts. NSF discretionary funding is typically provided through the following six appropriations accounts, while program-specific direction is usually included in accompanying conference reports or explanatory statements:

• Research and Related Activities (RRA), the main research account;
• STEM Education (EDU), the main education account;⁶⁶
• Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC), which supports the acquisition, construction, and commissioning of major facilities and larger mid-scale research infrastructure (RI);⁶⁷
• Agency Operations and Award Management (AOAM);
• the National Science Board (NSB), the account supporting NSF's governing body; and
• the Office of Inspector General (OIG).

For FY2026, President Trump's budget request includes $3.9 billion for NSF, a decrease of $4.9 billion (-55.8%) from the FY2025 estimated amount ($8.8 billion); see Figure 8 and Table 9. The FY2026 budget request proposes consolidating the EDU account as a subaccount within the RRA account. The combined resources for these activities in FY2026 would be $3.3 billion, down $5.1 billion (-60.8%) compared to the FY2025 estimated amount ($8.4 billion). Under the prior-year structure, the FY2026 budget request would decrease funding for RRA by $4.2 billion (-58.4%) and EDU by $883.6 million (-75.4%) compared to the FY2025 estimated amounts.

Figure 8. National Science Foundation (NSF) Funding by Account/Program, President's FY2026 Request Compared to FY2025 Levels (budget authority, in current dollars)

Source: CRS calculated the dollar and percentage changes by comparing NSF funding requested for FY2026 with estimated FY2025 funding levels contained in NSF, FY 2026 Budget Request to Congress, May 30, 2025, p. Summary Tables-3, https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF-FY26-CJ-Entire-Rollup.pdf. Notes: STEM = science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The FY2026 NSF budget request proposes consolidating the EDU account as a subaccount within the RRA account. To conform with this proposal, CRS included EDU amounts, shown here in italics, as non-adds (i.e., components included for illustrative purposes and not counted as separate line items when generating figure totals) for reference only. CRS included EDU amounts in the RRA account totals when calculating the dollar and percentage change.

Funding for R&D is included in the RRA (including the proposed consolidation of EDU-supported activities) and MREFC accounts.⁶⁸ (The RRA account and amounts historically included in the EDU account have also included non-R&D funding.) Together, the RRA and MREFC accounts, including EDU-related activities, compose 95% of the total requested funding for NSF. Actual and estimated R&D obligations for each account are known after NSF allocates funding appropriations to specific activities and reports those figures.⁶⁹ The budget request specifies R&D funding for the conduct of research, including basic and applied research, and for physical assets, including R&D facilities and major equipment. Total agency funding amounts for FY2024 actual, FY2025 enacted, and FY2026 requested levels are reported by account in Table 9; amounts for R&D are reported by account in Table 10.⁷⁰ In both tables, EDU-related funding is included within RRA amounts and is also identified separately, where possible, to enable comparisons with prior-year funding and the Senate FY2026 appropriation bill (S. 2354), which would provide a specific appropriation for EDU as reported by the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

Under the FY2026 request, R&D funding in the RRA account would decrease by $4.7 billion (-62.1%) compared to the FY2025 estimate of RRA and EDU combined. (A comparison of R&D funding for EDU separately is not possible, as R&D breakouts for FY2026 requested amounts for EDU are not provided in NSF's budget request.)⁷¹

The MREFC account appears to increase from $0 in FY2025 to a requested $251 million for FY2026 because President Trump canceled the designation of $234 million appropriated for FY2025 to NSF as emergency funding for that account through Division A of the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4).⁷² According to the NSF FY2026 budget request, "MREFC appropriated funds were not included in the emergency designation transmitted to the Committee on Appropriations on March 24, 2025, and are thus not available for expenditure."⁷³

Funding Rates for R&D

Under the FY2026 requested funding amounts, NSF estimates that the funding rate for competitive awards (including research grants, cooperative agreements, equipment grants, and fellowships) would decrease from 26% to 7% of proposals received.⁷⁴ In 2021, the former NSF director, Sethuraman Panchanathan, testified that NSF was funding "only 50% of what [it] could fund," in terms of proposals that were deemed worthy of support but rejected because of budget constraints at that time.⁷⁵ Some stakeholders have also raised concerns about potential long-term impacts to the economy and scientific workforce from rapid and large-scale cuts to basic research funded by NSF.⁷⁶ Additionally, through the CHIPS and Science Act (P.L. 117-167), Congress authorized and reauthorized NSF programs and activities and authorized appropriations for NSF of $17.8 billion in FY2026; the requested funding levels are $13.9 billion (-78.1%) below the authorized amount.

Investments in Research Infrastructure

The NSF FY2026 budget request notes that "RI is foundational to the scientific endeavor and necessary for enabling ground-breaking discoveries and global leadership."⁷⁷ NSF's RI portfolio includes two main types of funding through MREFC: a mid-scale RI (MRI) program covering projects with implementation costs between $20 million and $100 million (MRI Track 2, MRI-2 projects) and construction projects that require an investment of more than $100 million and tend to span multiple years. The request includes $251 million for MREFC, an increase of $17 million (7.3%) from the FY2024 reported amount. (As noted above, the FY2025 appropriation of $234 million for MREFC was not designated as emergency funding by President Trump in March 2025, and so no FY2025 appropriation was available for MREFC.)

The FY2026 MREFC requested funding would provide $25 million for the MRI-2 program, though this appears to be in support of previously funded proposals. The NSF budget request notes that, although NSF released a solicitation for MRI-2 proposals in March 2023 and has completed a review of those proposals, "NSF does not anticipate making new awards in FY 2026."⁷⁸ The FY2026 requested funding for MREFC would also support $225 million for ongoing construction of two projects: the Antarctic Infrastructure Recapitalization (AIR; $24 million)⁷⁹ and the Leadership-Class Computing Facility (LCCF; $201 million).⁸⁰

In addition to the MREFC account, NSF's RI investments from the RRA account—for operations and maintenance of major facilities and smaller MRI Track 1 projects—include $1.2 billion in FY2026 requested funding (down $718.6 million, -37.7%, from FY2024 funding).⁸¹ According to the FY2026 budget request, NSF will emphasize operations and maintenance funding for its highest priority infrastructure, while a second tier will be supported at a "substantially reduced level," and a final group of facilities will be funded for limited FY2026 activity with an intent to close or divest from the infrastructure.⁸² Oversight of the near- and long-term outcomes for NSF-supported infrastructure from the cancellation of FY2025 MREFC funding and reduced funding for certain NSF-supported facilities may be of ongoing interest to Congress.

Priority Research Areas

NSF provides summary information on prior and requested funding for "NSF administration priorities and crosscutting research topics" as part of the budget request.⁸³ Among the priority areas, two would see slight increases compared to the FY2024 current plan amount:⁸⁴ artificial intelligence ($655.2 million requested, up $19.6 million, 3%) and quantum information science ($231.2 million requested, up $1 million, 0.4%). The remaining priority areas would be decreased under the FY2026 funding amounts compared to the FY2024 current plan, all of which are on the list of key technology focus areas that guide numerous federal agency activities enacted under the CHIPS and Science Act:⁸⁵ advanced manufacturing ($110.1 million requested, down $200.5 million, -64.6%), advanced wireless ($59.5 million requested, down $83.9 million, -58.5%), biotechnology ($248.6 million requested, down $105.1 million, -29.7%), and microelectronics and semiconductors ($65.8 requested, down $76.8 million, -53.9%).

Additionally, certain statutorily required cross-agency programs of which NSF is a participant would see decreases under the FY2026 budget request compared to the FY2024 current plan, including the Networking and Information Technology Research and Development program ($821.3 million requested, down $944.5 million, -53.5%), the National Nanotechnology Initiative ($131.1 million requested, down $231.4 million, -63.8%), and the U.S. Global Change Research Program ($25.2 million requested, down $746.7 million, -96.7%).

Congress may consider whether to support the Administration's identified priorities through specified funding (and, if so, by how much). Congress may also consider what levels of funding are sufficient to support research priorities identified in statute as well as for the agency to carry out its participatory role in statutorily required programs and activities.

Conclusion

Proposed federal R&D investments included in the President's FY2026 budget request serve as a first step in the process of defining the nation's R&D priorities through the annual budget process. As it acts on the FY2026 appropriations process, Congress may opt to concur with none, part, or all of the President's proposed R&D funding levels and allocations. This report's analysis of proposed R&D investments included in the President's FY2026 budget request supports several observations. Consideration of the following high-level points may inform the appropriations process as well as oversight of federal agency execution of R&D-related budget authority Congress provides for FY2026.

First, the President's FY2026 budget request appears to signal a shift in R&D funding away from civilian agencies to military components under DOD. Under the President's proposal, of the five agencies that would account for approximately 92% of total federal R&D funding in FY2026—DOD, NIH, DOE, NASA, and NSF—DOD would see the only funding increase (up $21 billion; 23%) compared to FY2025 estimated R&D funding levels. Further, DOD would account for 62% of total R&D funding in FY2026, which would represent an increase over the 46% share of R&D funding proposed by the Biden Administration for DOD in FY2025.

Second, though Congress provided funding for R&D in FY2025 at FY2024 levels through the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025 (P.L. 119-4, Division A), the President's budget proposal estimates FY2025 R&D funding as 5% below the actual FY2024 amount. As previously discussed, this decrease could be associated with a number of potential scenarios, including the Administration's shifting of resources away from R&D to non-R&D activities within funding accounts that support both. Another potential explanation—supplementary appropriations that may be included in FY2024 actual funding levels for R&D—highlights the increasingly central role supplementary funding measures may play in Congress's allocation of support for federal R&D activities. For example, absent the $37.1 billion in reconciliation funding that the President's FY2026 proposal anticipates, requested federal R&D investments in FY2026 would total $144.3 billion—a decrease of $47.8 billion (-24.9%) compared to estimated R&D investments in FY2025. By comparison, the President's request (with reconciliation amounts included) proposes a 6% decrease for federal R&D in FY2026 compared to FY2025. Congress's provision of R&D funding through continuing resolutions and/or supplementary appropriations measures may affect agency ability to execute R&D budgets, which among other things may result in delays or cancellations of planned R&D activities and acquisitions of R&D-related equipment.

Third, as proposed in the FY2026 budget and through the Administration's actions more generally, federal agencies that support R&D may enter FY2026 with reduced staffing levels compared to FY2025. Should Congress decide to maintain or increase current R&D funding levels, staffing reductions (as well as any future reductions) and other factors may affect how federal agencies execute budget authority for FY2026. Congress may continue oversight of agency execution of R&D budgets through a variety of mechanisms, including hearings and agency authorization processes.

Footnotes