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STAC’s Statement On Proposed Budget Cuts to Federally Funded Research

June 5, 2025

June 5, 2025

The co-chairs of the Science and Technology Action Committee (STAC), a nonpartisan alliance of nonprofit, academic, foundation and business leaders advocating for greater focus and funding of science and technology, issued the following statement on the proposed budget cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other critical federally funded research infrastructure:

Americans across every state, in every community, will feel the negative effects of the proposed cuts to our scientific and research enterprise. If Congress enacts the sweeping slashes to the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other critical research infrastructure, America’s national security, economic stability, and public health will all be at risk.  

The proposed cuts also undermine decades of strategic, bipartisan congressional work to build a strong scientific enterprise – an investment that has driven incredible return on investment for the American people and the prosperity of our nation. We cannot hope to achieve President Trump’s stated commitment to usher in the Golden Age of American Innovation if these proposed cuts are enacted.  

Finally, enacting the FY26 budget request will ensure that America loses the innovation race against China and hands over our hard-won global leadership. We call on Congress to prioritize and protect U.S. global leadership, as it has always done, before it is too late. 

The Science & Technology Action Committee (STAC) is a group of 25 non-profit, academic, foundation, and corporate leaders working to dramatically strengthen U.S. science and technology. The Committee is co-chaired by: Bill Novelli, Professor Emeritus and founder of Business for Impact at Georgetown University and former CEO of AARP, Sudip Parikh, CEO, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher of the Science Family of Journals, Mary Woolley, President & CEO of Research!America, and Keith Yamamoto, Vice Chancellor for Science Policy and Strategy at UCSF and Immediate Past President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).