WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s unprecedented termination of members of the National Science Board. The National Science Board helps guide the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its support for technological and scientific research and innovation.
“The abrupt termination of members of the National Science Board represents a dangerous attack on the institutions and expertise that drive American innovation and discovery. This action, combined with the administration’s devastating proposed budget cuts to the National Science Foundation, signals a reckless disregard for the scientific enterprise and the universities and broader innovation ecosystem that anchor our nation’s competitiveness,” Sen. Cantwell said.
As the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee that oversees our nation’s science agencies, Sen. Cantwell has been a stalwart defender of NSF. Earlier this year, she led an effort to reject President Trump’s massive proposed budget cuts to NSF, NASA, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Senate instead passed an appropriations bill that stabilized funding for all three agencies.
READ MORE:
Reuters: US Senate passes bill to boost federal science spending after White House sought major cuts
Sen. Cantwell was also a main architect and key negotiator of the 2022 CHIPS & Science Act. In her position as Chair of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, she was instrumental in securing the science R&D funding authorizations in the 11th hour of negotiations. The new law authorized a new mission at the NSF focusing on translational science in key areas – including artificial intelligence, quantum technology, advanced manufacturing, composites, energy, and biotech — with an authorization of $20 billion over five years.