Trump fires all 24 National Science Board

President Donald Trump fired all 24 presidentially appointed members of the National Science Board on Friday, clearing out the panel that governs the National Science Foundation. (nytimes.com) (washingtonpost.com) Board members said they received messages from the White House Presidential Personnel Office saying their positions were “terminated, effective immediately.” The notices went out April 24, 2026. (washingtonpost.com) (upi.com) The National Science Board is not an advisory side body. The National Science Foundation says the board establishes agency policy, approves major awards, gives testimony to Congress, and advises both Congress and the president. (nsf.gov) The board’s structure is written into the National Science Foundation Act of 1950. NSF budget documents say it consists of 24 presidentially appointed members plus the NSF director as an ex officio member, with six-year staggered terms. (nsf.gov 1) (nsf.gov 2) That makes the sweep broader than replacing a chair or filling expired seats. It removes the entire outside board that Congress set up to give the foundation continuity across administrations. (nsf.gov) (congress.gov) The National Science Foundation is the federal government’s main funder of basic research outside medicine. Congress says it is a major source of support for university research, especially in fields including mathematics, computer science, and the social sciences. (congress.gov) The firings also land as the agency faces a smaller budget request. NSF’s fiscal 2026 request was $3.903 billion, while the Office of the National Science Board’s own request fell to $3.0 million from $5.09 million in fiscal 2024. (nsf.gov 1) (nsf.gov 2) House Science Committee ranking Democrat Zoe Lofgren said the board is “apolitical” and called the dismissals another move harming science and innovation. The Association of American Universities also issued a statement expressing concern. (nasawatch.com) (aau.edu) As of Sunday, April 26, the administration had not publicly laid out a detailed rationale in the reporting that first disclosed the dismissals. The next board meeting had been listed on NSF’s website for May 5, 2026. (washingtonpost.com) (nsf.gov) For now, the immediate fact is simple: the board Congress created to independently help run the National Science Foundation no longer has any of its 24 appointed members. (nsf.gov)