Trump Fires All 24 Members of National Science Foundation Board
The Trump administration dismissed all 24 members of the National Science Foundation's oversight board this week, extending its pattern of dismantling independent scientific advisory bodies across the federal government. The NSF board plays a central role in guiding research funding priorities across universities and national labs, meaning the firing has downstream consequences for long-term basic research in the United States. Scientists and university administrators are watching whether the administration moves to install politically aligned replacements or simply leaves the board vacant — either outcome would reshape how roughly $9 billion in annual research grants gets allocated. The move follows earlier purges of advisory boards at agencies including the CDC and EPA.
More from this week's briefing
Shooting Disrupts White House Correspondents' Dinner
US-Iran Nuclear Talks Collapse as War Tensions Surge
Orbán Loses Power in Hungary, Steps Down from Parliament
Al-Qaeda-Linked Militants Launch Major Coordinated Attacks Across Mali
Colombia Bus Bombing Kills 14 Ahead of Presidential Election
Netanyahu Orders Strikes on Hezbollah as Lebanon Ceasefire Frays
Google Commits $40 Billion to Anthropic in Circular Cloud Deal
DeepSeek V4 Pro Launches With 1.6 Trillion Parameters
Starmer Faces Mounting Internal Labour Party Pressure