The US National Science Foundation (NSF) is planning to expropriate approximately US$500 million from three of its eight scientific directorates, rescinding funding for more than 100 research proposals that had already passed peer review, to fund an initiative from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), according to a report published July 10 in Nature.
The move, confirmed by multiple NSF staff members who spoke to Nature on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, targets the Engineering (ENG), Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), and Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) directorates. Program officers in these divisions have been instructed to pull back proposals that had already been recommended for funding after peer review. Many researchers had already been informally notified that their awards were forthcoming, a standard practice at the agency before formal documentation is issued.
“The US National Science Foundation is planning to expropriate money from its core science programs to fund an initiative from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy,” Nature reported. “The move would strain budgets that are already tight and force the agency to rescind funding for research proposals that are nearly finalized.”
An NSF spokesperson declined to confirm the $500-million figure but told Nature that “proposals that are received but not awarded remain eligible for future consideration, including in Fiscal Year 2027, unless or until they are declined or returned.”
A larger squeeze
The clawback is not happening in isolation. NSF’s total budget for fiscal year 2026 is $8.75 billion, approximately 3% less than in 2025. Within that total, roughly $1 billion was withheld from all directorates by NSF leadership in mid-April and has not been distributed. If that withheld $1 billion is not released by the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2026, most directorates face funding reductions exceeding 30% compared to planned 2025 spending, far more than the 5% cap per directorate that Congress included as a non-binding directive in the appropriations bill.
One directorate is not facing cuts: Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP), a directorate established in 2022 to accelerate technology translation, is set to receive a roughly 30% funding increase.
The recipient of the clawed-back funds appears to be an initiative from OSTP. Initial reports in Science magazine suggested the money was flowing to NSF X-Labs, a $1.5-billion, 10-year technology development program announced on May 14. But an NSF spokesperson told Nature that characterization is “simply wrong.” Multiple staff members say the funds are being redirected to a different OSTP-backed project, the details of which have not been publicly described. OSTP did not respond to Nature‘s request for comment.
The dismantled guardrail
The plan comes against a backdrop of political pressure on the agency. The White House Office of Management and Budget has publicly criticized NSF for “wasteful spending” and a “growing failure of objectivity.” In April 2026, the entire 25-member National Science Board, the independent oversight body designed by Congress to insulate NSF from political interference, was dismissed by the White House via email, with no explanation. More than 2,500 scientists signed a letter to Congress calling the dismissal an “alarming attack” on research.
“We need a vibrant, independent National Science Board that represents the full spectrum of the science and engineering community,” said Dan Reed, a computer scientist at the University of Utah and former chair of the National Science Board.
Critics argue that the cumulative effect of the April withholding, the mid-year clawback, and the dissolution of the NSB represents a fundamental shift in how US science is governed, moving decision-making authority over grant funding from peer-review processes in directorates to political priorities set by the White House.
“Congress passed a non-binding directive instructing NSF to equitably distribute funding and avoid cutting any single directorate by more than 5 percent,” the Nature article noted. The current plan appears to violate both the spirit and the letter of that directive.
The impact on researchers is immediate. With the fiscal year ending in less than three months, and roughly $1.5 billion in NSF funds either clawed back or withheld, principal investigators who believed they had secured funding for the coming year must now plan for uncertainty. Students, postdoctoral researchers, and staff whose salaries depend on those grants face weeks or months of limbo before learning whether their proposals will be reconsidered in fiscal year 2027, assuming the agency’s budget and priorities allow it.
Source: Garisto, D. “NSF plans cuts to core science programs to fund White House initiative.” Nature (10 July 2026). DOI: 10.1038/d41586-026-02135-x