President Donald Trump’s high science and know-how advisor instructed a House science panel Wednesday that the White House isn’t concerned in funding choices on the National Science Foundation as committee Democrats pressed for solutions.
In response to questions from Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios mentioned “the White House is not involved in which proposals get funding at” NSF. Rather, Kratsios pointed to the position of OSTP as a conduit for guaranteeing the president’s science and know-how priorities are fulfilled.
But Lofgren, rating member of the House Committee on Science Space and Technology, and different Democrats on the panel expressed skepticism.
Pointing to latest information reviews from Science and Nature, paperwork obtained by the committee, and confidential sources, the lawmakers posed questions concerning the White House oversight at NSF and rumors {that a} portion of its funds are being redirected. Kratsios denied the allegations and remained mum on additional particulars.
The OSTP director’s preliminary denial of involvement got here in response to questions from Lofgren a couple of doc she mentioned committee Democrats acquired from a supply on the company final week. That picture, which was displayed on the listening to, confirmed a funding alternative workflow chart with a bit labeled “Coordination with DOGE and WH take place outside of workflow.”
“We’ve been hearing rumors for months, and this seems to confirm it that the White House is directly interfering with the operations of the National Science Foundation,” Lofgren mentioned.
Like a lot of the federal science enterprise, the Trump administration has sought to reshape and cut back funding for NSF. The company has been without a director since Sethuraman Panchanathan left in April 2025 and commenced dealing with grants terminations that the administration mentioned didn’t align with its insurance policies across the identical time.
More just lately, the Trump administration has proposed overhauls of NSF’s grants process in addition to grantmaking across the government — strikes which have received pushback from scientists and researchers. Reports have additionally prompt that funding could also be getting directed away from the science company.
Funding in query
Lofgren requested Kratsios about these reviews and particularly a element that almost $1 billion in congressional appropriations to NSF is being expropriated from the company and used for a $1.5 billion undertaking backed by OSTP.
She requested the place that funding was, and whether or not it was a part of the almost $5 billion in commitments associated to the Genesis Mission that the White House introduced Wednesday morning.
Kratsios mentioned he wasn’t accustomed to the main points at NSF, and as a substitute highlighted the administration’s need to direct spending towards “grand challenges.” He pointed to a 122-page Trump administration report printed late Tuesday titled “Science: A New Golden Age” that, per the introduction, is a roadmap for science and tech.
That report, amongst different issues, urged elementary change within the allocation, distribution and evaluation of federal analysis {dollars} and use of the total federal enterprise to handle nationwide challenges.
“I think we as a nation should strive to have these large-scale scientific endeavors that only the government can help marshal the full resources of the nation together to accomplish,” Kratsios mentioned.
Lofgren replied that the committee doesn’t disagree on a few of these initiatives — pointing particularly to the bipartisan approval of the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act and help for analysis into fusion. The concern, she mentioned, is concerning the scientific enterprise.
Grants slowdown
Meanwhile, Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., centered on a reported discount in grant awards at NSF. Using figures from a project called Grant Witness, Whitesides cited a 55% lower within the variety of grants and a 30% lower in whole grant quantities at NSF between fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2026.
“When awards concentrate into fewer, bigger grants, the researchers who lose out are the … early career applicants in the smaller labs in our research community,” Whitesides mentioned.
He mentioned that contrasts with a comment Kratsios made in his opening assertion that he wished to prioritize younger American scientists, and requested the OSTP director to elucidate what’s occurring with grant cash.
Kratsios referred Whitesides to NSF however mentioned he would look into it and are available again with a solution. After additional questions, Kratsios additionally mentioned the administration is trying to ensure choices are consistent with the president’s funds, and indicated curiosity in seeing these numbers improve.
“To me, I think the pace and the speed at which we do that has to be responsible,” Kratsios mentioned. “And I do see these charts, and nothing would make me happier to make sure that … we are getting closer to where we were in previous years. So, I’ll do everything that I possibly can to help move that line, because I think it’s important for us to get these appropriate dollars out to scientists.”
GOP reward
Kratsios had a hotter welcome from committee Republicans, who praised the administration’s work.
Chairman Brian Babin, R-Texas, prompt that the National Science Foundation’s benefit overview course of, which depends on consultants from academia, is biased as a result of college lean liberal. He additionally claimed that federal grants have been used to advance DEI initiatives below the Biden administration and promote environmental justice.
He requested Kratsios how the proposed revisions to grants coverage would “restore accountability to the American people and elected officials instead of deferring to a political ideology or an unelected bureaucracy.”
Similarly, Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., praised the administration’s funding for NASA and Artemis missions, calling it “a great year for science.” He later mentioned he “liked the DOGE idea because it’s how we found so much wasteful spending.”
Remaining questions
But questions nonetheless linger amongst committee Democrats.
In an interview with FedScoop on the sidelines of the listening to, Whitesides mentioned that the director’s responses to his questions contradicted info offered to committee Democrats by “a very reliable source” that grants have been despatched to OSTP sooner or later over the previous yr for approval.
While Kratsios mentioned the rationale why the company had slowed on grants was as a result of they have been aligning with administration priorities, Whitesides pointed to the absence of political officers on the company.
“Someone’s making decisions,” he mentioned. “Somebody’s doing that. Who’s doing it?”