"Lawmakers have announced legislation that would increase funding for basic research by more than 2%."
"The US Congress is poised to approve legislation rejecting the huge and unprecedented cuts to science budgets sought by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
In a bill announced on 20 January, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) would see its budget increase by around 1% this year — in sharp contrast to the 37% cut proposed by the White House. Lawmakers have until 30 January to finalize the NIH bill and other spending legislation to avoid a partial government shutdown, which would be the second closure in less than three months.
Legislation approved by Congress on 15 January would minimize cuts to most of the other main science agencies. Overall, spending on research and development that is not related to national defence is projected to decline by 3–7%, much less than the 33% cut sought by Trump, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC. Total investments in basic research would increase by more than 2%.
“This is good news in comparison to last year,” when the Trump administration put forward its spending plan, says Alessandra Zimmermann, who tracks science budgets and policy at the AAAS. Before that, however, “these numbers would have felt catastrophic,” Zimmermann says, and it’s still an open question whether the administration will actually spend the money as directed by Congress."
Jeff Tollefson and Max Kozlov report for Nature January 20, 2026.
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