In the President's Budget Request (PBR) for fiscal year 2026 (beginning Oct. 1, 2025), the Trump Administration made major cuts to science and technology (S&T) research at key agencies -- including NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Defense (DoD) -- which would have disastrous effects on the nation's leadership in science.
NASA's Aeronautics research mission was cut by 39% (from 935M to $588M) and its Revolutionary Vertical Lift Technology (RVLT) project completely eliminated. The Science mission was cut nearly in half and educational outreach through its Office of STEM Engagement was completely eliminated (from $143M to zero).
NASA's Science mission is to "discover the secrets of the universe, search for life elsewhere, and protect and improve life on Earth and in space." The FY26 PBR would shut down 41 space missions, according to the Planetary Society, including many unique projects, such as bringing back rocks from Mars (with the help of the Mars Sample Return Helicopter) and missions to Venus, Jupiter and an asteroid that will come close to Earth. For many of these missions, most of the money has already been spent, including 19 active science missions that have already been launched -- trashing $12B of taxpayers' investments and 180 years of combined effort. This is like paying off your mortgage for 20 years before moving in ... and then burning down your house to save on utility bills.
The agency says the US needs "a highly skilled and competitive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce today and in the future. NASA is committed to engaging, and attracting these future generations of explorers." Beyond inspiring the nation's children through America's world-leading space program and aeronautical breakthroughs, it attracts and trains thousands of young people to enter the American STEM workforce, which is vital to maintaining and expanding the nation's scientific dominance.
Both the Senate and House of Representatives added back much of the funds cut from NASA Aeronautics, Science and STEM, but the Executive Branch has indicated its resistance to spending these Congressionally directed resources.
NASA isn't the only one affected by deep S&T cuts. The Administration's proposed FY26 budget for the NSF was a massive cut from $9B to $4.1B, a 55% reduction, including slashing the "Research & Related Activities" line (the vast majority of NSF funding) by a whopping $5.1B (61%).
NSF says its investments "unleash groundbreaking discoveries," scientific solutions and expanded participation in STEM careers. "These efforts strengthen our domestic workforce to fuel economic prosperity, national security, and global [science and engineering] competitiveness." Nonetheless, fellowships and scholarships are cut by 65%, eliminating nearly all post-doctoral programs, and NSF’s past STEM Education budget was slashed by $866M (75%).
Again, Congress recognized the need for continued investments in science. The Senate bill fully restores funding for NSF at $9B. However, the House bill passed a $7B budget, a 23% cut, with much of STEM Education still eliminated.
President Trump highlighted an all-time-record Defense budget of more than $1T for FY26, comprising a budget request of $892.6B and an additional $119.3B from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The requested funds mark significant increases in military spending, focusing on near-term purchases of weapons systems available today, but cuts personnel and longer-term investments for the needs of tomorrow.
In May, Army leaders announced that it would "deliver critical warfighting capabilities, optimize our force structure, and eliminate waste and obsolete programs." This Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) accelerates the Bell MV-75 tiltrotor Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) and retires less effective, more costly platforms, like the older, D-model of the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter (first fielded in 1997) and L-model of the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter (1989).
Numerous other programs were also terminated as being "ineffective or obsolete," but some cuts are detrimental to the national interest. One victim was the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), begun in 1999 to provide a more capable engine for the Apache and Black Hawk helicopters. After a quarter century of competitive S&T development, the GE Aerospace T901 began flight testing on the Black Hawk in May. The T901 was designed to provide 50% more horsepower, 25% better fuel efficiency and a 35% reduction in costs over its lifecycle, a huge multiplier of capabilities for Army Aviation. Once again, this would be akin to paying a mortgage for a quarter century a priori ... and then not moving in.
Most damaging for the future capabilities of Army Aviation, however, are the significant cuts to its expertise and S&T investments, again threatening the future US workforce. According to an analysis of the DoD budget by the non-profit Vertical Flight Society (VFS), the FY26 PBR cuts the Army's total S&T budget by 43% -- a reduction of nearly $2B -- compared to the FY24 budget; cuts of 21% and 29% were also made to Navy and Air Force S&T respectively.
These three S&T accounts for the Army in FY26 are only $2.6B of its overall $15B Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) budget (about 17%), but their impact on future capabilities is enormous. VFS notes that these cuts would wipe out the "national reserve of intellect and innovation, limit ability to change/adapt to unmanned drone technologies rapidly, and deplete pipelines of data, software and workforce that have created and sustained US military superiority over land, on water and in the air."
These S&T investments, VFS says, "incubate leap-ahead innovations, solve intractable problems, acquire unique test data,[ ]develop design tools and software for manned and unmanned systems,and make them freely available to US industry to gain competitive advantage over adversaries."
S&T is the seed corn that grows into future national capabilities. It is the source of innovations for the system development and demonstration phase that leads to operational systems. Thus, these cuts pose significant risk to America's future economic and national security.
Congress again added back funding for RDT&E efforts, like ITEP, and has been skeptical of the ATI. The House wrote, "Absent a well-contemplated and articulated rationale, hasty modernization efforts can generate unnecessary and unacceptable levels of risk."
Taken individually, the FY26 PBR S&T budgets for NASA, NSF, defense and other agencies would each have serious implications. Taken together, these cuts -- if enacted as proposed -- would be a self-decapitation of America's scientific leadership.
Aerospace is America's single largest contributor to a positive trade balance, with aerospace and defense exports reaching $138.6B in 2024. This isn't because the US makes them cheaper than other countries; it's because they are among the world's best—built on a century of aerospace innovations.
President Trump has issued executive orders on "Unleashing American Drone Dominance" and energy dominance, and seeks to "achieve global dominance in artificial intelligence (AI)."
The White House should add "unleashing America's scientific dominance" to the list, to ensure America retains and expands its leadership over its adversaries and global competitors.