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

Isaacman's statement is up on the Committee's website.


Key part on NASA objectives:

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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Washington Post also has an article. Same big picture, some different details:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/04/11/nasa-science-budget-cuts-trump/

From the Washington Post article:

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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ISAACMAN’S “GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE & DISCOVERY” ON SHAKY GROUND

Isaacman’s “Golden Age of Science & Discovery” on Shaky Ground

Posted: April 11, 2025 5:50 pm ET | Last Updated: April 13, 2025 9:39 pm ET | NASA's science budget will suffer deep cuts, about 50 percent, in Trump's FY2026 budget request according to a report in Ars Technica. Members of the House and Senate are vowing to fight such cuts.
spacepolicyonline.com

Interesting observation at the end:

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:
spacenews.com

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 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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https://twitter.com/x/status/1910731543540105234
View: https://x.com/garetrobinson/status/1910731543540105234


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

Background and personal CV are important.
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en.wikipedia.org

Russell Vought - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

https://twitter.com/x/status/1910731900139831547
View: https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1910731900139831547


You don't have to guess. It's him.
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I expect Congress to push back but as Eric’s article notes, without an approved budget things get interesting. Vought also weighed in on the impoundment issue at his confirmation hearing:


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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Isaacman weighs in on the NASA science budget cut.

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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spacenews.com

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 spacenews.com
 

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