Trump Administration Proposes 47% Cut to NASA Science Budget, Sparking Broad Opposition

TL;DR: The Trump administration’s 2027 budget proposal would cut NASA’s science funding by 47%, threatening more than 50 missions, thousands of jobs, and international partnerships.

The Office of Management and Budget released its top‑line request for fiscal year 2027 just days after NASA’s historic lunar flyby. The proposal trims NASA’s overall budget by 23% and slashes the science portfolio by nearly half.

The Planetary Society, the nonprofit co‑founded by Carl Sagan and now led by Bill Nye, launched a renewed “Save NASA Science” campaign. It warns that the cuts would cancel over 53 science missions, eliminate thousands of positions, waste billions of taxpayer dollars, and break more than a dozen international agreements. The group describes the plan as an “extinction‑level event for space science.”

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D‑MD) echoed that sentiment at a Senate hearing, stating that without space science there can be no space exploration, planetary discovery, or even NASA itself. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended the proposal, arguing the agency can achieve more with less by focusing on the Artemis program.

The House commerce, justice and science subcommittee has already diverged from the White House line, advancing a $24.4 billion request that would only modestly reduce the agency’s total budget from $24.8 billion last year. Even that reduced figure would lower the science budget from $7.3 billion to $6 billion, keeping the sector at risk.

If the 47% cut proceeds, at least 84 missions—including probes to Pluto, Jupiter, Venus’s clouds, and a future Mars rover—could be scrapped. The loss would cripple long‑term scientific research and diminish U.S. leadership in space.

Lawmakers and scientists are poised for a showdown in the coming weeks as Congress reviews the budget. Watch for the Senate’s final vote and any amendments that could restore funding to critical science programs.