A U.S. Senate panel yesterday approved legislation that would provide greater funding to the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, and other research agencies for the 2025 fiscal year, sparking the usual clash over federal research spending with the U.S. House of Representatives.
In recent times, the Democrat-controlled Senate has often supported higher spending levels for key research agencies than the Republican-controlled House, despite the usual bipartisan support for science funding in Congress, resulting in challenging final negotiations. The Senate’s vote yesterday suggests that the same dynamic will remain during negotiations for spending in the 2025 fiscal year starting on October 1st.
The Senate appropriations committee’s vote on July 25 initiated the process of finalizing the $73.7 billion Commerce, State, and Justice (CJS) spending bill, which includes funding for NSF, NASA, NIST, and NOAA.
In general, the bill would offer small increases to those agencies. An instance of this would be NSF receiving an increase of $490 million, equivalent to 5% to reach $9.55 billion. That amount is below the $10.2 billion requested by President Joe Biden, but higher than the $9.25 billion supported by the House.
NASA would receive a 2.25% boost to $25.43 billion, which is $50 million higher than what Biden asked for and $257 million higher than what the House proposed.
Here are a few standout points from the bill, which is set to be voted on by the entire Senate. It remains uncertain when the Senate and the House will complete their budget proposals. It is probable that a final budget agreement will be reached after the November elections.
NSF
In addition to providing the agency with $300 million more in 2025 compared to the House’s proposed budget, the Senate bill emphasizes slightly different priorities. As an illustration, it would increase NSF’s education initiatives by $53 million, or 4.5%, above the current $1.17 billion, instead of the $172 million reduction suggested by the House. It would satisfy NSF’s demand for $300 million for new construction, while the House would reduce that request by $66 million.
NSF has committed $1.6 billion to support the construction of two extremely large telescopes, one in Hawaii and one in Chile, and senators are urging it to expedite the U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program (US-ELTP). The Senate proposal allocates $100 million for new prioritized astronomical facilities from a 2021 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, with US-ELTP expected to benefit the most through funding for ongoing design efforts. Senators are also advocating for the inclusion of the initial installment of construction funds for US-ELTP in NSF’s 2026 budget request.
Walter Massey, chairman of the board overseeing the Giant Magellan Telescope project, emphasizes the importance of the suggested funding for the team to reach their goal of being operational for American scientists by the early 2030s.
The Senate bill instructs NSF to reconsider certain contentious modifications made to the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which assists small and rural states in obtaining a greater portion of NSF funding. During a meeting earlier this year, a few senators expressed concern that the modifications could potentially force state EPSCoR offices to shut down. The legislation would guarantee financial support for those departments. Senators also informed NSF that 20% of all new awards for a key program to enhance regional economic growth should be directed to institutions in one of the 25 EPSCoR states.
NASA
NASA’s Science Directorate, responsible for managing five research sectors, would receive a 3.3% increase of $240 million, bringing its budget to $7.58 billion. That is approximately $20 million above Biden’s proposal and $240 million above the House’s suggestion for flat funding.
A significant difference in funding for NASA’s earth science programs exists between the Senate and the House. The Senate recommends $2.37 billion, which is 8% more than the current year’s budget, in line with what the president asked for. The House suggested reducing $2 billion by 8.9%, mainly due to Republican beliefs that climate research is not a top concern.
The Senate bill would boost funding for the planetary science and astrophysics programs. Astrophysics is granted $1.6 billion, which is approximately the same as what was requested and the amount approved by the House. Planetary sciences is granted $2.7 billion, which is nearly the same as requested but approximately $200 million short of the House mark. Remarkably, the Senate allocates $72 million to support the functioning of the aging Chandra X-ray Observatory; NASA had originally proposed a 40% reduction to $41.1 million, a level that scientists warned would make the observatory nonfunctional. The Senate legislation would also preserve the current funding for the Hubble Space Telescope, which NASA wanted to reduce by approximately $10 million, causing challenges but not a termination of the project. The Senate stated in a report that Hubble and Chandra maintain U.S. leadership in space and science, but will eventually be retired as their capabilities decline.
The Senate committee turned down Biden’s plan to reduce funding for NASA’s heliophysics branch by 2.4%, or $18 million, bringing it to $787 million. Instead of accepting the proposed cut, the panel expressed frustration and suggested an increase of $7 million to $812 million. The panel suggested increasing funding by 4.4% to $90.8 million for NASA’s biological and physical sciences programs.
In regards to NASA’s STEM Engagement initiatives, which offer assistance to minority serving institutions and strive to cultivate a varied workforce, the Senate shows greater support compared to the House. The House suggested reducing funding by 38% to $89 million, while the Senate is in alignment with the agency’s request for a steady budget of $144 million. The decrease in House funding may suggest worries among Republican members about initiatives promoting diversity, fairness, and inclusivity.
Jack Kiraly, who is the director of government relations at the Planetary Society, a science advocacy group, stated that the current situation is seen as a positive change from 2024 when NASA science faced significant setbacks. Adding, the Senate proposal is considered fairly balanced when compared to the House plan.
NIST
In general, the Senate proposal fulfills the agency’s $1.5 billion ask, which is roughly $50 million more than last year. The House has requested a small reduction.
NIST’s main laboratories will receive nearly $1.1 billion, surpassing the requested $977 million and slightly higher than the House’s suggested $1 billion.
The NIST numbers consist of numerous “Congressionally Directed Spending items” which are funds allocated by lawmakers for specific projects that must be used by the agency for those purposes. New medical imaging equipment is being provided to multiple universities, a soil carbon sampling and analysis laboratory is being established for a climate research center in Massachusetts, and a semiconductor testing facility is being built in Oregon.
NOAA
NOAA’s primary research division, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, is granted $734 million, exceeding the requested amount of $646 million and the House’s proposed $714 million.
Similar to NIST’s budget, NOAA’s budget also consists of several predetermined spending items. This encompasses several aquaculture facilities in different states, a water monitoring program in Virginia, and an initiative in Hawaii to involve students in humpback whale management.
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