Congress Signs FY2026 Science Spending, Rejects Sweeping Cuts
February 27, 2026 · 2 min read
David Almeida
A $47.2 billion allocation for the National Institutes of Health. An $8.75 billion budget for the National Science Foundation. An $8.4 billion line for the Department of Energy's Office of Science. When President Trump signed the FY2026 appropriations package into law on February 3, the sweeping cuts his administration had proposed to federal research agencies were officially dead.
What Survived
The five-bill spending package, which funds 11 of 12 appropriations categories through September 30, preserved the federal research enterprise at near-FY2025 levels across every major science agency:
- NIH: $47.2 billion (0.9% increase), rejecting a proposed 40% cut. Includes $1.5 billion for ARPA-H.
- NSF: $8.75 billion (3% decrease), rejecting a proposed 56% reduction. Supports approximately 10,000 new awards.
- DOE Office of Science: $8.4 billion (2% increase), rejecting a proposed 14% cut.
- NASA Science: $7.25 billion (1% decrease), rejecting a proposed 47% reduction. All 55 targeted missions preserved.
- NOAA: $6.17 billion, maintaining weather satellites and coastal research.
The bills also blocked a proposed 15% cap on NIH indirect cost reimbursement rates — a provision that had triggered legal battles and widespread alarm across the research university community.
What It Means for Grant Seekers
The near-flat budgets are not windfalls, but they are a reprieve. The proposed cuts would have eliminated tens of thousands of research positions and shuttered entire program offices. Instead, agencies will continue accepting applications at roughly historical volumes.
For principal investigators, the message is clear: the pipeline remains open. NSF will fund an estimated 10,000 new awards. NIH's $47.2 billion sustains the largest biomedical research portfolio on Earth. DOE's slight increase keeps clean energy and basic science programs on track.
Researchers tracking open solicitations across these agencies can monitor new opportunities as they post using Granted, which aggregates funding from NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, and dozens of other sources.
The only bill not yet signed — Homeland Security — remains under negotiation. In-depth coverage of how these budget numbers affect specific programs is available on the Granted blog.