Donald Trump has fired all 22 members of the advisory board of the National Science Foundation (NSF), one of the government's most important agencies devoted to research, education, and funding of all non-medical fields of science and engineering. This independent agency was founded in 1950 and its members are appointed by the US President in six-year terms in a staggered way, and all of them are required to be 'eminent' in their scientific fields.
But last week, all members received an email saying that their positions had been terminated effective immediately. According to Nature, it follows similar mass lay-offs in federal science advisers: last year all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which played a crucial part in US vaccine policy, were terminated, as well as 14 advisory committees at the NSF, to reduce government spending.
This move temporarily leaves the NSF headless, an agency with a 1532 employees as of 2025 and an annual budget that rose to $8.28 billion in 2020, mostly dedicated to funding research projects in universities and centres, but many expect more cuts will be made as Trump is making more attacks to academic research.
According to the El País, it is rumoured that the White House would nominate financial investor Jim O'Neill as the new director of the NSF, a figure criticised by many because he lacks scientific background and would work to dismantle the organisation.