The Trump administration on Friday dismissed members of an independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation, which finances much of the public scientific research in the United States.
On Friday afternoon, National Science Board members received a terse email “on behalf of President Donald J. Trump” that said their position was “terminated, effective immediately.”
The dismissals are the latest in Mr. Trump’s clash with scientific research organizations, as his administration cuts funding to its lowest level in decades.
“I am deeply disappointed, though I cannot say I am entirely surprised,” Willie E. May, a terminated board member and a vice president at Morgan State University, said in an email. “I have watched the systematic dismantling of the scientific advisory infrastructure of this government with growing alarm, and the National Science Board is simply the latest casualty.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The National Science Foundation, which was established in 1950 and funds scientific research ranging from quantum computing to microbiology, has been under pressure since Mr. Trump returned to office.
Last year, the foundation terminated hundreds of active research awards, and awarded new grants at the slowest pace in at least 35 years. It lost about a third of its employees in layoffs or forced retirements, and its director, a Trump appointee, resigned.
Last year, the Trump administration also proposed cutting the National Science Foundation’s budget of approximately $9 billion budget by more than half. Board members said that in part because of their lobbying, Congress kept funding for scientific research at a similar level. Now, Mr. Trump is again calling on Congress to slash the National Science Foundation’s budget.
National Science Board members worry that their firing, along with the threat of funding cuts, could have wide-ranging national consequences. The board is normally made up of 25 people who represent a wide array of scientific disciplines. They are appointed by the president for six-year terms.
“It’s fundamental science that directs much of the discovery, which leads to innovation and to products that make it into the marketplace,” said Roger N. Beachy, a professor emeritus of biology at Washington University in St. Louis whose board membership was also terminated.
