NSF ends fiscal year with more than $1 billion unspent

The National Science Foundation closed fiscal year 2026 with more than $1 billion in funding still unobligated following a sharp slowdown in research grantmaking. The agency obligated $6.4 billion in research funds this year, down from $8.3 billion in fiscal year 2025, according to the latest available data shared by Grant Witness – a decrease of about 23%. This funding was distributed between 6,218 awards, down from 8,647 last year and 10,937 in fiscal year 2024.

The New York Times reported that NSF withheld $1.4 billion in research funds in 2026, but the final figure could be different — an OMB apportionment approved in August estimated that NSF would carry $1.7 billion in unobligated research funding into fiscal year 2027.

While NSF has two years to spend its research appropriations, it typically doesn’t carry over such large shares of its annual budget. NSF spokesperson Mike England told the New York Times that the agency had “carried over funds to invest in agency priorities that are aligned with broader administration initiatives.” Earlier this year, Nature reported that NSF was withholding about $1 billion of its budget to fund the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Grand Research Challenges initiative.

In contrast, the National Institutes of Health managed to spend its entire extramural research budget of around $34 billion this year, STAT reported, despite a slow start to its grantmaking.

Noam Ross, co-founder of Grant Witness and executive director at rOpenSci, told FYI that the differences in spending between agencies show “how important congressional restraints and directions in appropriations bills are towards being able to rein in the changes the administration is making.”

AI bills await further action in Congress

Congress headed for the campaign trail last week, leaving behind a number of AI-related bills for post-election consideration. Notably, Senate Democrats blocked a vote on a bill requiring states to consider making data centers pay for their power grid costs. The “Ratepayer Protection Act” had already passed in the House in September. Among newer bills, a bipartisan one would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to create national guidelines for controlling AI agents. House and Senate Democrats also introduced a bill that would create a new cabinet-level federal agency to regulate AI. Further along in the legislative process, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has advanced a “Chip Equip Act” bill barring the purchase of foreign semiconductor equipment. (Readers can use FYI’s Bill Tracker to follow these and other research-related bills)

On the White House side, President Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to replace the term “artificial intelligence” with “super intelligence” in communications, citing improved AI capabilities. Trump also posted a “self-policing” AI safety accord signed by industry leaders on his Truth Social network on Tuesday. Trump named Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, as his “AI Czar” on Sunday.

Second judge blocks $100,000 H-1B fee

A federal judge in California last week blocked the Trump administration’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee for failing to follow required rulemaking procedures. The ruling reinforces an earlier block from a case in Massachusetts, which found the six-figure fee amounted to an unauthorized tax. The Department of Homeland Security recently proposed a similar but different $103,265 fee on cap-subject H-1B petitions. The Association of American Universities and other higher education organizations have urged DHS to withdraw the proposal.

In other immigration policy news, DHS is appealing a Sept. 14 injunction blocking a rule that would end “duration of status” for F-1 students and J-1 exchange visitors. Separately, higher ed groups are also urging the State Department to withdraw proposed changes to the J-1 exchange visitor program that would make it easier for the government to cancel a participant’s visa. They argue that expanded termination authority would create uncertainty for prospective students and scholars

Also on our radar

• A Russian drone strike on Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences last week killed at least two people and injured others. The US National Academies condemned the attack.
• Appropriators in both parties are considering how to counter President Donald Trump’s funding rescissions and protect NIH grants from political influence.
• The US and 16 other nations endorsed the “Kyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science” at a forum in Japan. The declaration calls for metascience and artificial intelligence to strengthen scientific discovery worldwide.
• The White House will host the Science: A New Golden Age Summit on Thursday, a follow-on to the forum in Japan. OSTP did not respond to a request for details. DOE Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil said the event will build upon the July OSTP report on reshaping research funding.
• DOE announced a funding opportunity of up to $400 million for basic research in fiscal year 2027, $100 million less than the expected level in 2026.
• The DOE Office of Science Advisory Committee recently released roadmaps for quantum computing and the Genesis Mission federal AI initiative.
• Conservative organizations are using open records requests to scrutinize climate researchers’ work that is potentially related to lawsuits, according to Politico.
• House Science Committee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) says DOE is obstructing her committee’s oversight duties by failing to provide the evaluations of awards DOE terminated last year and the names of officials involved.

---

---

All events are Eastern Time unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement. Events beyond this week are listed on our website.

The House and Senate are in recess and will return Nov. 9.

Monday, October 5

ARL: Fall association meeting (continues Tuesday)

Belfer Center: Tackling the grid reliability and affordability challenge in the age of AI
12:00 - 1:15 pm

Stimson: Progress, power, and peace at the AI frontier
2:00 pm

Tuesday, October 6

NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards meeting (continues through Friday)

National Academies: Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences meeting (continues through Thursday)

Baker Institute: Annual Energy Summit: Energy, risk and geopolitics
7:30 am - 3:00 pm (CT)

Brookings: How China and the US will regulate AI models for safety
10:00 - 11:00 am

Wednesday, October 7

AASRO: 2026 Conference (continues through Friday)

Stimson: The nuclear energy renaissance: The challenges of governance with the advent of AI
12:00 pm

CSIS: 25 years since the Anthrax attacks: Where are we now?
4:00 - 5:00 pm

Thursday, October 8

National Academies: Mathematical Sciences Education Board meeting (continues Friday)

National Academies: On being a scientist: Public webinar
10:00 - 11:00 am

DCSWA: Covering fraud and misconduct: Lessons from the retraction beat with Retraction Watch Managing Editor Kate Travis
6:30 - 7:30 pm

NDIA: CBRN quarterly forum
9:00 am - 12:30 pm

Friday, October 9

CSIS: Does health research reach Washington? A conversation on evidence, policy, and the gap between them
9:00 - 10:30 am

NIH: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences roundtable on proposed changes (including abolishing the Office of Drug Development Partnership Programs and the Office of Translational Medicine, among other changes)
12:00 - 1:00 pm

Saturday, October 11

Geological Society of America: Connects 2026 (continues through Wednesday)

Monday, October 12

Columbus Day, Federal holiday

---

Deadlines indicated in parentheses. Newly added opportunities are marked with a diamond.

Job Openings

APS: Head of scientific programs (ongoing)
AAMC: Senior director, science policy and regulation (ongoing)
AAF: Technology and innovation policy analyst (ongoing)
ICF: Public policy researcher (ongoing)
MIT: Senior advisor, science and innovation policy advocacy (ongoing)
ASCB: Executive director, Coalition for the Life Sciences (ongoing)
◆NIST: Chief operations officer (Oct. 7)
AAAS: Program director, Center for Scientific Evidence in Public Issues (Oct. 8)
◆NSF: Chief of research security strategy and policy (Oct. 19)
AAAS: Pathways to Policy Fellowship (Nov. 1)
AIP: Science policy fellowship, Congress (Dec. 1)
LBNL: LBNL nonproliferation fellow (through January)

Solicitations

FAS: Public Impact S&T Initiative open call (ongoing)
NIH: RFI on proposed changes to reporting outcomes from NIH peer review (Oct. 13)
NIST: RFI on modernizing the National Vulnerability Database in the age of artificial intelligence (Oct. 13)
NIH: RFC on draft NIH Biosafety Policy for Research Involving Biohazards (Oct. 19)
HHS: RFI on electromagnetic fields, radiofrequency radiation, and wireless radiation exposure (Oct. 21)
NSF: RFC on notice of intent to integrate three NCSES workforce surveys (Oct. 27)
NSF: RFI on identifying the next generation of X-Labs topics (Oct. 30)
National Academies: Call for committee members for study evaluating DOE’s Milestone-Based Fusion Development program (Oct. 30)
DHS: RFC on proposed rule eliminating the discretionary 60-day grace period for H-1B and other visa holders (Nov. 10)
USGS: Call for nominations to the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (Nov. 16)
NIST: RFI on future needs for medical metrology and standards for medical imaging, devices, diagnostics and therapy (Nov. 30)

Know of an opportunity for scientists to engage in science policy? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

---

Do you have a story to tell about how science policy is impacting you?

AIP’s research team is gathering first-hand accounts from scientists, engineers, students, and staff whose careers have been affected by policy and funding changes over the past year. Volunteers can submit their stories via this online form. Participants’ stories will be added to the Niels Bohr Library & Archives digital repository as searchable, citable records — with options for anonymity and a five-year embargo period. Read more about the initiative here.

---

---

News and views currently in circulation. Links do not imply endorsement.

White House

Washington Post: Trump is selling an AI ‘golden age’ as fears about perils spiral
Roll Call: Trump’s funding cancellation violates budget law, GAO says
Politico: Trump promised the truth about UFOs. These scientists are waiting
FedScoop: Agencies largely stonewall GAO on audit of DOGE’s data practices
White House: Adobe, Amazon, Intel, Starlink, Google, and Zoom partner with First Lady Melania Trump’s Fostering the Future Together

Congress

American Nuclear Society: Democrats request information from NRC, Nieh over regulatory overhaul
Politico: Senate negotiators reach deal on permitting text
Roll Call: Congress continues back-seat role as AI execs feted at White House
House Energy and Commerce Committee: Watchdog report finds disposal of high-risk laboratory equipment by HHS, USDA, GSA exposed US to severe bioterrorism threat
Washington Times: We need more American scientists and engineers (perspective by Sen. Todd Young, R-IN)
House CCP Committee: Following committee’s work, NASA strengthens research security enforcement
Senate Appropriations Committee: Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) on GAO concluding Trump’s pocket rescission is illegal
Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD): Van Hollen statement on OpenAI decision to hold release of latest model
Stat: Two key Senate health committees face major shake-ups
Scientific American: Democratic Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed explains how science influences his politics
Politico: The little-known Democrat with big influence over AI policy

Science, Society, and the Economy

MIT Technology Review: When can we say AI made a scientific discovery?
Nature: How to spend $25 billion on science: OpenAI’s staggeringly rich research charity gets under way
ITIF: Congress should make the CHIPS Act’s investment tax credit permanent (perspective by Trelysa Long)
New York Times: How Meta uses AI data centers to avoid billions in federal taxes

Education and Workforce

American Astronomical Society: When science policy reaches the classroom
Chronicle of Higher Education: How Trump’s admissions-data push burdened colleges
Stat: Trump administration appeals ruling blocking limits on international student visas

Research Management

HPCwire: NSF launches open knowledge network linking 43 knowledge graphs
Nature: Beware sham scientific societies: The research community must be more vigilant (editorial)
Nature: Why AI-authorship debates miss a deeper shift in how scholarly knowledge is produced (perspective by Phil Hutchinson)
Nature: AI can widen science — but only if institutions stop rewarding the already measurable (perspective by Guowei Huang et al.)
Stat: NIH awarded all its grant funding, but delayed and opaque decisions stymied researchers

Labs and Facilities

Los Alamos National Lab: NVIDIA CPU arrives at Los Alamos
Argonne National Lab: The next frontier: How AI is reshaping discovery at Argonne (video)
Oak Ridge National Lab: Atomic roots: Dolly Parton’s secret connection to Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Ames National Lab: Ames National Laboratory to lead DOE Mine of the Future project

Computing and Communications

Financial Times: Trump praises ‘tremendous self-regulation’ of AI after summoning tech bosses to the White House
Washington Post: AI agents tried to hack a Canadian government website, researchers say
ITIF: Reply comments to FCC regarding reliable access to spectrum for space launch activities (perspective)
CSIS: Don’t slow down AI development, speed up benchmarking (perspective by Benjamin Jensen and Yasir Atalan)
Financial Times: Anthropic warns of ‘existential risks to humanity’ in IPO prospectus
NPR: A startup wants to build a massive nuclear-powered data center on public land in Utah
HPCwire: Hardware alone won’t drive the next revolution in scientific computing (perspective by Mike Bernhardt)
Financial Times: Is AI supercharging science?

Space

NASA: NASA celebrates as Artemis Accords surpasses 75 signatories
New York Times: Despite setbacks, NASA gives Boeing’s starliner spacecraft a boost
ITIF: Policy considerations for orbital data centers
NASA Watch: Planetary protection directive from NASA Administrator Isaacman
NASA Watch: FY 2025 NASA planetary research and analysis funding cut by more than 50%
NASA: NASA adds new science investigations for Moon base
SpacePolicyOnline: LTG David Miller nominated as next leader of US Space Command

Energy and Environment

Inside Climate News: Environmentalists sue federal agencies over nation’s first fast-tracked critical minerals mine
NucleCast: Bryan Clark: Why the Arctic is the back door to America (audio interview)
HPCwire: Genesis Mission report examines AI’s role in fusion and biological design
Politico: Can the SpaceX playbook work for nuclear power?

Defense

Scientific American: US space weapons probably aren’t what you think
Financial Times: MI5 warns universities to cut ties with Chinese institute
FedScoop: NNSA, counter-drone task force create framework for data sharing
CNBC: Elon Musk, Palmer Luckey and Newt Gingrich to help Pentagon with warfare initiative, Hegseth says
DefenseScoop: Pentagon task force, Army announce billions in counter-drone tech awards
DOE: NNSA conducts nonproliferation experiment to strengthen America’s nuclear explosion detection capabilities
Inside Defense: CBO gets first look at Golden Dome architecture behind trillion-dollar cost dispute
DOJ: Department of Energy employee arrested in Washington state on charges of attempted material support to Houthis

Biomedical

Stat: Why MAHA wants to make health data much more accessible
Inside Higher Ed: NIH plans $174M for research replicability, reproducibility
Annenberg Public Policy Center: About 1 in 3 Americans say RFK Jr. recommends measles vaccine
New York Times: ‘Zombified’ CDC, hobbled by cuts, struggles to fulfill scientific mission
Politico: A cure for ‘medical tyranny’: RFK Jr. puts a positive spin on AI
Science: Will Trump administration weaken protections for human research subjects?
MedPage Today: Trump administration suppressed USPSTF recommendations, past chair says
IEEE Spectrum: Tech to replace animal testing is almost ready. Scientists are not
HealthAffairs: Policy research at NIH: An imperative in peril (perspective by Scott Burris et al.)

International Affairs

Nature: China wants to build world-leading science journals — can it be done?
Science|Business: Ukraine’s Academy of Sciences warns against Russian cooperation after attack
University World News: UN chief backs academics’ call for global inequality panel
University World News: Academic freedom issues threaten India’s global standing
Science|Business: Allow dual-use research in next Horizon Europe, research ministers urge MEPs
Fusion Industry Association: Italy passes legislation in support of nuclear fission and fusion energy