Trump Administration Terminates Entire National Science Board Amid Massive Federal Research Funding Overhaul

President Trump dismissed all 22 independent members of the National Science Board, accelerating a massive overhaul of U.S. federal research and climate science.

By: AXL Media

Published: May 1, 2026, 11:21 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Earth.Org

The Immediate Dissolution of Statutory Oversight

The dismissal of the National Science Board (NSB) was delivered via a concise email from the Presidential Personnel Office, effectively ending the terms of all 22 specialized members. Established by Congress in 1950, the board is designed to function as an independent advisory body, insulating the National Science Foundation from political volatility while guiding the nation’s engineering and scientific priorities. Terminated members, including prominent academics and industry leaders, expressed significant disappointment at the timing of the move, which occurred just days before a scheduled meeting to finalize a major report on international scientific competition.

A Broad Campaign Against Climate and Environmental Data

This recent action is part of a wider administrative strategy to realign the federal government’s scientific priorities, which has already resulted in the loss of over 10,000 doctoral-level experts from the federal workforce. Since January 2025, the administration has targeted agencies like the EPA, NOAA, and the Forest Service, resulting in the erasure of climate datasets and the termination of over 1,400 NSF grants. Critics argue that by removing the independent board, the White House has cleared the primary obstacle to implementing deeper budget reductions that were previously stalled by congressional and institutional resistance.

Dismantling Domestic and International Research Pillars

Beyond administrative personnel changes, the White House has moved to dissolve established research centers, most notably the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colorado. Officials labeled the facility a source of "climate alarmism" and initiated plans to move its vital weather-monitoring activities to other entities. Internationally, the United States has formally withdrawn from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These withdrawals effectively end official U.S. participation in global climate assessments and diminish the nation's influence in international scientific collaboration.