Congress: Uphold the Declaration of Dissent by NSF Employees and Researchers

Today I take pen in hand to write and urge you to support the National Science Foundation (NSF) employees' concerns in a declaration of dissent. It was released to Congress as a whistleblower document, and written to protest the catastrophic changes, politically motivated firings, and budget cuts under the Trump administration. These cuts, firings and loss of research grants serve no purpose but those of our enemies: It threatens the agency's mission and America's leadership in science and innovation. Regardless of what happens next the trickle down effect will set back engineering, research and education in non-medical sciences by years. The American Federation of Government Employees, in conjunction with the not-for-profit Stand Up for Science, helped write the declaration of dissent. In the declaration they note that the proposed 56% budget cut to NSF for fiscal year 2026 would decimate U.S.-based science, harm the economy, and cede worldwide STEM leadership to other countries. Enacting these devastating cuts would cripple the agency and eliminate NSF support for a quarter of a million scientists, educators, and students across the nation. The cuts by the fictitious Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have already terminated 1,667 NSF awards worth $1.35 billion to 512 institutions. This undercuts critical investments in research, training programs, teacher development, and scientific literacy initiatives aimed at broadening participation in STEM fields. If that wasn’t bad enough, the current administration has corrupted NSF's rigorous merit review process by introducing opaque political criteria and interventions by unqualified personnel. All this is overreach: That includes the withholding of $2.2 billion (24%) of congressionally appropriated funds, despite being legally required to distribute them. It’s a grave presents grave threat to NSF's ability to award new grants before the fiscal year ends. Coerced resignations and shedding of staff have depleted NSF's institutional knowledge. The sudden eviction notice for NSF's headquarters, with no relocation plan, further disrupts operations. Urgent action is needed to preserve NSF's integrity and America's scientific preeminence. The agency's catastrophic restructuring under unqualified leadership jeopardizes decades of progress and investment in research and education vital to national security, economic prosperity, and technological competitiveness. It doesn’t matter what state you represent, the entire nation will lose. Your intervention is crucial to uphold NSF's apolitical, merit-based processes and safeguard its congressionally mandated mission. I urge you in the strongest possible terms to find allies that will bring legal action against DOGE, or the Trump Administration itself to halt this dismantling and destruction. Thank you.