U.S. Senate passes bill to boost federal science spending after White House sought major cuts

The U.S. Senate ‌voted on Thursday (January 15, 2026) to approve billions of dollars in ​funding for federal science agencies, rejecting deep cuts proposed by President Donald Trump in space and other areas.

The Senate bill approved significant science funding for NASA, the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration above what the White House had sought. NSF will receive $8.75 billion for research efforts including in quantum ​information science, artificial intelligence and other areas.

The White House had ⁠sought to cut the budget by 57%.

The NSF funding is expected to support nearly 10,000 new competitive awards and more than 250,000 scientists, technicians, teachers, and ​students, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen ⁠said. The Senate rejected nearly all of Trump’s cuts to NASA. The president had sought a $6 billion cut from the $24.9 billion budget, but the Senate voted for a much smaller cut, appropriating $24.44 ‌billion.

The bill rejected a proposal to cut NASA Science ‌by 47% and terminate 55 operating and planned missions. The legislation also provides $1.6 billion for Astrophysics, including $300 million to ‍complete a telescope to investigate dark energy and $500 million for the Dragonfly mission to explore the largest moon of Saturn.

This week, ‍White House science adviser Michael Kratsios addressed criticism of proposed science budget cuts. “Even in our attempt to try to rightsize the budget, the one area where we have kept a consistent amount of proposed budget funding has been in AI,” he said.

Senator Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Commerce Committee that oversees many science-related agencies, said in a Reuters interview the bipartisan vote was a vote ⁠for science. “Congress won by saying, ‘No, science does matter, and we’re going to invest in it.’”

The bill supports ​big projects like creating a “permanent outpost on the Moon, developing space technology ⁠that monitors extreme weather and protects our citizens from natural disasters, and inventing the microelectronics of the future,” Cantwell said.

Senator Rand Paul, a Republican, said the legislation “wastes $8.75 billion on the National Science Foundation—a massive taxpayer-funded expansion with weak oversight, vague ⁠priorities, and no clear return for the public.”