Trump's 2018 science budget

By Matt Young

You can read about it in the Washington Post or Science, but FYI, by the American Institute of Physics, possibly sums it up the best:

  • The Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy* – down 109 %
  • DOE's Renewable Energy – down 70 %
  • DOE's Fossil Energy – down 58 %
  • NOAA Research – down 32 %
  • DOE's Nuclear Energy – down 31 %
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology – down 23 %
  • National Institutes of Health – down 22 %
  • DOE's Office of Science – down 17 %
  • United States Geological Survey – down 15 %
  • National Science Foundation – down 11 %
  • Department of Defense Science and Technology – 5.8 %
  • NASA Science – down 0.9 %
  • National Nuclear Security Administration – up 7.7 %
  • * The figure 109 % is correct and has something to do with prior year balances.

In dollars, as opposed to percentage, according to FYI, the largest hit is to NIH, which will lose approximately $7.4 billion compared with the FY17 budget. NNSA, by contrast, gains about $1 billion.

According to the Science and the Post articles, reaction from scientists and science organizations has been predictable. Fortunately, the Post reports in a headline, Even some Republicans balk at Trump’s plan for steep budget cuts. We shall see.