White House may seek to slash NASA’s science budget by 50 percent

If confirmed, and with the support and guidance of President Trump and members of Congress, we will reinvigorate a mission-first culture at NASA with the following objectives:

First—American astronauts will lead the way in the ultimate ‘high ground’ of space. As the President stated we will prioritize sending American astronauts to Mars. Along the way, we will inevitably have the capabilities to return to the Moon and determine the scientific, economic, and national security benefits of maintaining a presence on the lunar surface. We will focus our technology development efforts on the world’s greatest engineering challenges, such as the practical application of nuclear propulsion, so that we can truly unlock humankind’s ability to explore among
the stars.

Second—We will ignite a thriving space economy in low Earth orbit. By working alongside international partners and industry, we can unlock the true economic potential of space and deliver meaningful benefits to the American people--potentially charting a course for NASA to become a financially self-sustaining agency.

Third—NASA will be a force multiplier for science. We will leverage NASA’s scientific talent and capabilities to enable academic institutions and industry to increase the rate of world-changing discoveries. We will launch more telescopes, more probes, more rovers and endeavor to better understand our planet and the universe beyond.

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The budget plan, sent to NASA by the Office of Management and Budget, would give NASA’s Science Mission Directorate $3.9 billion, down from its current budget of about $7.3 billion, according to the individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the details.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens issued a brief statement: “NASA has received the fiscal year 2026 budget passback from the Office of Management and Budget, and has begun the deliberative process.” [...]

NASA’s astrophysics budget would take a huge hit, dropping from about $1.5 billion to $487 million. Planetary science would see a drop from $2.7 billion to $1.9 billion. Earth Science would drop from about $2.2 billion to $1.033 billion.

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Symbolically, the first Trump Administration reformatted NASA’s budget documentation starting in FY2019 moving science from first place to fourth, after the human spaceflight accounts. Congress never adopted that change either. Science remains first in the appropriations bills.

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White House proposal would slash NASA science budget and cancel major missions

The White House is proposing steep cuts in NASA’s science program that, if implemented, would cancel several major missions, contradicting claims by the administration’s nominee to lead the agency.…

spacenews.com

According to sources familiar with the details of the passback, the budget would reduce NASA’s topline, or overall, budget to about $20 billion. NASA received about $25 billion for fiscal year 2025 in a continuing resolution (CR) that kept it and other agencies at 2024 spending levels.

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My guess, this is who is making the cuts with a team around him.

Background and personal CV are important.

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Russell Vought - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

You don't have to guess. It's him.

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Russell Vought wouldn’t commit to having the federal government spend all the money Congress approves.

[…]

Vought repeatedly declined to elaborate on how he would approach the issue if confirmed to head the budget office.

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NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman... calls a potential halving of NASA science funding not “an optimal outcome.”

The Senate Commerce Committee published April 24 responses by Isaacman to questions for the record from Republican and Democratic members of the committee following his April 9 confirmation hearing. The committee is scheduled to vote on reporting Isaacman’s nomination to the full Senate April 30.

One theme in the questions, primarily from Democratic members of the committee, involved reports just after the hearing that the White House is proposing to cut funding to NASA’s science programs by nearly 50% in its fiscal year 2026 budget request. That would include canceling several missions in development, such as the Roman Space Telescope and Mars Sample Return, and likely terminating many ongoing missions in extended operations.

Isaacman said in responses to several questions that he was not involved with the development of the 2026 budget proposal and not aware of its details. “I have not reviewed or been party to any official discussions, but a ~50% reduction to NASA’s science budget does not appear to be an optimal outcome,” he said in response to a question from the committee’s ranking member, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), if he supported such a cut.

“If confirmed, I will advocate for strong investment in space science—across astrophysics, planetary science, Earth science, lunar science, and heliophysics—and for securing as much funding as the government can reasonably allocate,” he wrote, answering another question on science funding from Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

That includes appearing to break with the White House on the future of the Roman Space Telescope. “To my knowledge, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is nearing completion and remains on schedule and within budget—something that is unfortunately rare for flagship programs at the agency,” he said in response to another question from Schatz. “I’m not aware of any reason why it should be canceled, and I would support its completion and successful deployment.”

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Isaacman calls potential NASA science cuts not “optimal”

NASA administrator nominee Jared Isaacman says he would, if necessary, prioritize Artemis over human missions to Mars and calls a potential halving of NASA science funding not “optimal.”

spacenews.com

Isaacman's Nomination Headed For The Full Senate

Jared Isaacman's nomination to be NASA Administrator was just reported favorably out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

nasawatch.com

Jared Isaacman’s nomination to be NASA Administrator was just reported favorably out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (full committee) by a vote of 19 – 9.

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The Trump-Vance Administration released toplines of the President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2026 on Friday. The budget accelerates human space exploration of the Moon and Mars with a fiscally responsible portfolio of missions.

“This proposal includes investments to simultaneously pursue exploration of the Moon and Mars while still prioritizing critical science and technology research,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “I appreciate the President’s continued support for NASA’s mission and look forward to working closely with the administration and Congress to ensure we continue making progress toward achieving the impossible.”

Increased commitment to human space exploration in pursuit of exploration of both the Moon and Mars. By allocating more than $7 billion for lunar exploration and introducing $1 billion in new investments for Mars-focused programs, the budget ensures America’s human space exploration efforts remain unparalleled, innovative, and efficient.
Refocus science and space technology resources to efficiently execute high priority research. Consistent with the administration’s priority of returning to the Moon before China and putting an American on Mars, the budget will advance priority science and research missions and projects, ending financially unsustainable programs including Mars Sample Return. It emphasizes investments in transformative space technologies while responsibly shifting projects better suited for private sector leadership.
Transition the Artemis campaign to a more sustainable, cost-effective approach to lunar exploration. The SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion capsule will be retired after Artemis III, paving the way for more cost-effective, next-generation commercial systems that will support subsequent NASA lunar missions. The budget also ends the Gateway Program, with the opportunity to repurpose already produced components for use in other missions. International partners will be invited to join these renewed efforts, expanding opportunities for meaningful collaboration on the Moon and Mars.
Continue the process of transitioning the International Space Station to commercial replacements in 2030, focusing onboard research on efforts critical to the exploration of the Moon and Mars. The budget reflects the upcoming transition to a more cost-effective, open commercial approach to human activities in low Earth orbit by reducing the space station’s crew size and onboard research, preparing for the safe decommissioning of the station and its replacement by commercial space stations.
Work to minimize duplication of efforts and most efficiently steward the allocation of American taxpayer dollars. This budget ensures NASA’s topline enables a financially sustainable trajectory to complete groundbreaking research and execute the agency’s bold mission.
Focus NASA’s resources on its core mission of space exploration. This budget ends climate-focused “green aviation” spending while protecting the development of technologies with air traffic control and other U.S. government and commercial applications, producing savings. This budget also will ensure continued elimination any funding toward misaligned DEIA initiatives, instead designating that money to missions capable of advancing NASA’s core mission. NASA will continue to inspire the next generation of explorers through exciting, ambitious space missions that demonstrate American leadership in space.
NASA will coordinate closely with its partners to execute these priorities and investments as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Building on the President’s promise to increase efficiency this budget pioneers a focused, innovative, and fiscally-responsible path to America’s next great era of human space exploration.

Learn more about the President’s budget request for NASA:

Budgets, Plans and Reports - NASA

Main page for resources for NASA's annual budget request.

www.nasa.gov

-end-

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The White House has proposed the largest single-year cut to NASA in American history.

It would recklessly slash NASA’s science budget by 47%, forcing widespread terminations of functional missions worth billions of dollars.

Slashing NASA’s budget by this much, this quickly, without the input of a confirmed NASA Administrator or in response to a considered policy goal, won’t make the agency more efficient — it will cause chaos, waste the taxpayers’ investment, and undermine American leadership in space.

Additionally, this budget, as overseen by OMB Director Russ Vought, is not supportive of President Trump’s own stated goal that America must “lead the way in fueling the pursuit of space discovery and exploration.” The OMB’s budget proposal is fundamentally at odds with the President’s vision for American space leadership.

We urge Congress to swiftly reject this destructive proposal and instead pursue a path consistent with the President’s vision. This is an opportunity for bipartisan agreement to secure an efficient, capable, and balanced national space program worthy of the nation it aims to represent.

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The Planetary Society condemns deep, damaging 24% cut to NASA’s budget

The Planetary Society strongly opposes the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget blueprint, which proposes a 24% reduction to NASA’s top-line funding. This…

www.planetary.org

The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), also said she supported the nomination, citing Isaacman’s support for the current Artemis architecture, such as use of the Space Launch System and two lunar lander developers. That outweighed concerns she mentioned about potential budget cuts to NASA.

“A commitment to keeping on to the moon mission is the key requirement that we have to have in this position,” she said. “Mr. Isaacman seems to be committed to the current plan for both lander redundancy and Space Launch System, and returning to the moon as fast as possible.”

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Senate Commerce Committee advances Isaacman nomination to lead NASA

The Senate Commerce Committee voted April 30 to advance Jared Isaacman’s nomination to be NASA administrator to the full Senate, bringing him one step from confirmation.

spacenews.com