On April 25, 2026, the Trump administration dismissed the entire National Science Board, the apolitical body created by Congress in 1950 to advise the president and Congress on the National Science Foundation. The dismissal was first reported by The Verge and confirmed by The Independent.
The NSB serves a structural role in U.S. science policy: it sets the strategic direction of the NSF, approves grants over a statutory threshold, and produces the biennial Science and Engineering Indicators report that informs federal R&D priorities. Members are typically appointed for staggered six-year terms specifically to insulate the body from political turnover. Mass dismissal is unprecedented.
The firing comes on top of a sustained attack on the NSF itself. The agency has been operating under historically low funding levels and significant delays in disbursing grants. NSF science has historically underwritten the technologies behind MRIs, cellphones, GPS, the early internet, and Duolingo's commercialization, among many other foundational developments.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee: 'This is the latest stupid move made by a president who continues to harm science and American innovation. The NSB is apolitical. It advises the president on the future of NSF. It unfortunately is no surprise a president who has attacked NSF from day one would seek to destroy the board that helps guide the Foundation. Will the president fill the NSB with MAGA loyalists who won't stand up to him as he hands over our leadership in science to our adversaries? A real bozo the clown move.'
The Trump administration has not yet announced replacements. The pattern across the second term has been to install loyalists at independent bodies after mass firings, leaving career staff and advisory functions either captured or non-functional.