The Cost of Cutting Funding to US Scientific Research

The good news: Public servants working in science, health and the environment make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. Tens of thousands of federal employees, from scientific researchers to park rangers, work every day to deliver safe food, effective medicines, economic prosperity and beautiful outdoor spaces. Federal science has been behind eradicating deadly diseases, putting humans in space, the incredible national parks system and  the digital technology people rely on every day.

The bad news: Right now, experts suggest, decades of progress are being unraveled by indiscriminate cuts to federal science agencies, programs and workforces, which puts everyone at risk.

Here’s where some of the cuts have been deepest:

• National Parks and Public Lands agencies (27.4% decrease) 
• Scientific Discovery and Technological Innovation agencies (23.4%), including NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and others 
• Food and Agriculture agencies (22.7%) 
• Environmental Research and Innovation project grants (78.9%)
• Public Health and Disease Prevention R&D contracts (49.4%)
  
  

The better news: Concerned citizens, organizations and government officials are working on ways to improve this situation—and you can help.

What’s Being Done

To help find a solution, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service launched The Cost of Cutting American Science, an interactive tool combining data and original storytelling to illustrate how the current administration’s sweeping cuts to funding and the federal workforce are disrupting critical scientific work, and the consequences that will affect people, communities and the nation for years to come.

The tool analyzes effects across: food and agriculture; biomedical research; public health and disease prevention; national parks and public lands; environmental research and innovation; weather forecasting and emergency response; scientific discovery and technological innovation; and energy research and infrastructure. In addition to exploring findings by sector or at the national level, users can get tailored data and content based on their identity, occupation, lifestyle, interests and location.

“Federal investments in scientific research are behind some of our greatest national achievements: eradicating deadly diseases, putting humans in space, improving access to clean air and water and building the national parks system,” said Partnership for Public Service President and CEO Max Stier. “Right now, decades of achievement are being unraveled by indiscriminate cuts to funding and the federal workforce that harm people and communities, weaken our economy and threaten our standing as the world’s leading innovator.”

“Now is the time to unite around protecting these essential investments in our collective future,” Stier continued.

Other Federal Harms Tracker tools include:

• The Cost to Your Government tracks confirmed employee reductions across federal agencies, sourced from official government documents and news reports, and links them to specific risks and harms for communities nationwide.
• The Cost to Your Community shows how workforce reductions and funding cuts affect states, cities and towns through data and storytelling. 
• The Cost to Our Economy summarizes and aggregates the direct and indirect financial costs of actions such as reductions in force, implementation of the deferred resignation program and the loss of federal grants.
• The Cost of the Shutdown documents the day-by-day impact of disruptions to vital government services during the 2025 total government shutdown and the 2026 partial government shutdown. 
  
  

The Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. Over the past 25 years and across five presidential administrations, it offered government agencies and leaders crucial training and insights to better serve the public, championed legislation for effective government and shined a spotlight on the achievements of the federal workforce. 

What You Can Do

You can send your opinions and ideas to your legislators at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov and you can donate to the Partnership for Public Service to help it in its work, at https://ourpublicservice.org/take-action/support-us/donate.

Learn More

For the latest federal news, information on upcoming Partnership programs and events, and more, visit www.ourpublicservice.org. 

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