You are browsing the archive for Category: Science policy - AGU Blogosphere.
3 June 2026
A Rule That Would Rewrite the Terms of U.S. Science
The Office of Management and Budget has proposed sweeping revisions to the regulations that govern all federal grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of federal financial assistance.
7 April 2026
Trump Administration’s FY27 President’s Budget Request Cannot Go Unanswered
Last Friday, President Trump released the fiscal year 2027 President’s Budget Request. What we are seeing is devastating, and it demands a forceful response. As our policy team details on The Bridge, this budget is largely a repeat of last year’s proposal, but repetition does not soften the blow. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate is cut by nearly half its budget. The National Science Foundation is losing more than half. NOAA is down nearly 28%. The EPA is slashed by more than 52%. And once again, for the second year in a row, the Administration proposes …
9 January 2026
AGU statement on U.S. withdrawal from climate and environmental organizations and treaties
The Trump Administration’s announcement that the United States will withdraw from a multitude of international organizations and treaties that support global cooperation on climate and environmental issues is a grievous setback at a moment when the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are only accelerating and when scientific expertise and collaboration are indispensable to addressing them. Some of these bodies and treaties form the backbone of international climate cooperation. At the center is the United Nations Framework Convention on …
13 November 2025
Don’t Just Reopen Government. Recommit to Science.
The United States has just come through the longest government shutdown in its history—a period of deep uncertainty that exacerbated hardships for the nation. Some scientists still reported for duty, delivering life-saving forecasts and monitoring hazards without pay. But with labs closed and research halted, the critical work behind those services—modeling, maintenance, and long-term observations—was stalled, eroding the scientific foundation that helps protect lives, livelihoods, and the environment. The impacts …
6 October 2025
AGU Condemns Threatened Mass Firings of U.S. Federal Workforce During Shutdown
I write to you today outraged on behalf of everyone who depends on a functioning government. Last Wednesday, the U.S. government shut down. Now, the threat of mass firings looms over our federal workforce. Many of our members are hardworking U.S. federal scientists who have dedicated their careers to serving the public. When federal scientists are forced from government service, they often lose their life’s work—and the agencies they serve …
2 June 2025
Forward with Purpose, Determined with Action
We have a promising update regarding the case for which AGU is one of the plaintiffs. In AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, AFL-CIO, et al., v. Donald J. Trump et al., Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted the request for a preliminary injunction, which blocks the government from executing any of their reduction-in-force (RIFs) and reorganization plans until the case comes to …
14 March 2025
A Continuing Resolution Is a Blow to U.S. Science — and the Public
The American public deserves better. Science drives progress, but it can’t do that with stopgap funding and political gridlock. It’s time to end the cycle. Science needs certainty and sustained financial growth – and the recognition by Congress that undermining science shortchanges American competitiveness in the world. Unfortunately, even the most thoughtfully crafted spending bill from Congress means little if the executive branch refuses to implement it in good faith. …
5 March 2025
The State of the Science Union
What You Didn’t Hear Last Night but Need to Know Last night, President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress. Titled “The Renewal of the American Dream,” there was heavy emphasis on the economy, border security, and foreign relations, but what you didn’t hear was the realities of a hollowing out of the federal workforce that has weakened critical scientific expertise, abdicated climate leadership, shrunk important research, and frozen global …
