Energy & Environment

National Science Board members told by Trump administration they were terminated: Report

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/25/26 6:06 PM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/25/26 6:06 PM ET

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The Trump administration on Friday told several scientists on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) board that they were terminated from their roles, The Washington Post reported.

The White House Presidential Personnel Office’s message to members of the National Science Board thanked them for their service, according to screenshots shared with the outlet.

“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I’m writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately,” the message seen by the Post reads.

Board member Marvi Matos Rodriguez told the outlet that she was reviewing an 80-page report for her board work this week when she learned she was terminated. She started her role in 2022.

“The idea of having six-year terms is you get to do something significant, impactful and go beyond administration, political administrations,” she told the outlet.

The Hill has reached out to the National Science Foundation and the White House for comment.

The Post did not determine how many board members were terminated, nor if they will be replaced.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, called the terminations “the latest stupid move made by a president who continues to harm science and American innovation.”

“The NSB is apolitical,” she said in a statement released on Saturday. “It advises the president on the future of NSF. It unfortunately is no surprise a president who has attacked NSF from day one would seek to destroy the board that helps guide the Foundation. Will the president fill the NSB with MAGA loyalists who won’t stand up to him as he hands over our leadership in science to our adversaries? A real bozo the clown move.”

The Trump administration has canceled or suspended nearly 1,400 of the agency’s grants, citing changing policy priorities, since Trump returned to the White House last year. Changes within the foundation have led to less grants being issued, with these grants funding a quarter of basic scientific research across the country.

Former NSF directors and organizations representing grant recipients have warned that dismantling the agency would hurt scientific innovation in the U.S.

President Trump’s 2027 budget request seeks to cut NSF funding by more than 50 percent. An Office of Management and Budget spokesperson previously told The Hill that the cuts reflect “a strategic alignment of resources in a constrained fiscal environment.”

Trump last month nominated former Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill to lead the NSF. His nomination is still pending, however, after it was referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for consideration.

In October, The Planetary Society Chief Ambassador Bill Nye “The Science Guy” called on Congress to intervene with efforts to cut funding to the NSF and NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

“We’re not talking about delays in scientific exploration, we’re talking about the end of it,” Nye told reporters on Capitol Hill at the time, ABC News reported. “While we’re checking out, our competitors are checking in.”

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