Support Science Funding (Again): A Call to Action

This week, as Artemis II circled the Moon and took humans farther from Earth than ever before, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its 2027 budget. That budget looks eerily similar to the budget released in 2025 that sought to gut support for NASA as well as funding for other agencies involved in science and research. This proposed budget, if passed, would cut $5.6 billion from NASA science, despite overwhelming support for NASA from Congress.

In the Planetary Society's article "What is the skinny budget, and what does it mean for NASA?" Ari Koeppel wonders if the proposal may be a strategic move "to normalize deep reductions to government programs."

Photo: The Planetary Society

Jared Isaacman, who was sworn in as NASA administrator on December 18, 2025, released a letter to NASA employees this week in response to the budget, essentially supporting the cuts by emphasizing his commitment to efficiency and that the budget is sufficient. Despite Isaacman's statement, many in the greater science community are alarmed by this nearly identical attempt to once again shrink the resources allocated to science.

In AAS's statement on the proposed budget this week, Roohi Dalal writes, "Congress holds the 'power of the purse' and will ultimately make the decision about how much federal funding is appropriated to these and other agencies. We urge you to take action next week and, thereafter, to remind Congress of the importance of federal funding for the sciences."

The AAS is holding a Week of Action beginning Monday, April 13. Take action each day to show Congress you support a fully funded science budget and not the "skinny" budget released by the OMB. Find all the steps on the AAS website. Anyone who completes three steps will be recognized as an advocacy hero at the next AAS meeting.

The Planetary Society had already marked April 19 and 20 as their annual Day of Action, where members advocate for science face-to-face with members of Congress in Washington, D.C. That day will take on extra meaning. 

This week, take some time to participate in AAS's Week of Action and show Congress how much Americans support funding NASA and science in general. 

 

Earth sets at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, over the Moon’s curved limb in this photo captured by the Artemis II crew during their journey around the far side of the Moon. Photo: NASA

AAS Congressional Visits Day 2026 & The Unknowns of Science (Policy)

The deadline to sign up for AAS Congressional Visits Day is fast approaching (February 1, 2026). In today's crosspost, Cecilia Ochoa, a PhD student at the University of California, Riverside, writes about her experience as an AAS science policy advocate in 2025.

Representative Mark Takano and Cecilia Ochoa.
Photo: AAS

Ochoa says, "After a day of running between the House and the Senate, I left with a sense that I had done something to protect the funding for my research, but that the work is far from over. While this year's CVD primarily focused on advocating for science funding, there are numerous other issues important to US astronomers, such as dark skies and space debris, that also require advocates."

Read the rest of Ochoa's experience as an advocate in The Unknowns of Science (Policy).

Learn more about how AAS volunteers can advocate for science and policy at AAS.org/advocacy.

Congressional Visits Day for 2026 are April 13-15, and applications are open through February 1. 

Learn more and sign up to be an advocate at AAS.org. 

Ochoa's article was originally published on August 5, 2025, at AAS.org. 

The Current Landscape for Astronomy Public Policy and How You Can Make a Difference

On June 12, 2025, during the 246th AAS, a special town hall session was held to discuss the current landscape of public policy for astronomy and how individuals can help shape the future of the field. Dara Norman and the AAS Public Policy Team—Colin Hamill, Roohi Dalal, and Joel Parriott—curated the information for the town hall. Lori Porter (Graduate Student, Columbia University), Becka Phillipson (Assistant Professor, Villanova University), and Marcel Agüeros (Professor, Columbia University) were panelists, each bringing unique perspectives from their experiences engaging with policymakers and advocating for science.

The AAS Mission and Strategic Priorities

AAS.org

The AAS is dedicated to enhancing and sharing humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community. Their strategic priorities for 2021–2026 focus on two main areas:

• Addressing Significant Global Issues Affecting Astronomy
  • Advocating for the implementation of the Decadal Surveys’ recommendations.
  • Supporting STEM education initiatives.
  • Championing funding, programs, and policies that benefit the discipline.
  • Promoting policies to protect ground-based lighting and the full electromagnetic spectrum.
  • Addressing the increasing presence of satellites in Earth’s orbit and their impact on astronomical observations.
• Building Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive (EDI) Practices
  • Expanding staffing to support ongoing and new EDI initiatives.
  • Improving access and equitable participation in AAS meetings, events, and publications.
  • Increasing representation of marginalized groups in AAS leadership.
  • Implementing recommendations from recent task forces and consortia to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion.
  • Promoting just and equitable scientific standards and behavior within the community.

The Policy Landscape: Recent Developments

The past year has seen significant shifts in federal policy affecting astronomy and related sciences. Here are some highlights from the timeline:

• Early 2025: Executive orders and agency directives led to funding freezes, layoffs, and reorganization plans at key agencies like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Space Commerce.
• March 2025: Congress passed a full-year Continuing Resolution for FY2025, but deep cuts to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) were rumored.
• April–May 2025: AAS organized Congressional Visits Day, released Action Alerts, and submitted comments and letters supporting NASA, NSF, and the Department of Energy (DOE).
• May 2025: The NSF was ordered to abolish 37 science divisions, and the House passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which included provisions to auction radio spectrum that could impact radio astronomy.
• June 2025: The AAS continues to engage with Congress regarding NASA and NSF budget requests and has submitted Outside Witness Testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

How You Can Make a Difference

AAS.org

The AAS emphasizes that everyone—regardless of their role within the astronomy community—has the power to influence policy. Here are actionable steps you can take, listed in order of increasing effectiveness:

• Use Action Alert Forms: The AAS provides easy-to-use forms for writing to your member of Congress. These pre-written messages make it simple to support astronomy funding and policies.
• Call or Leave a Voicemail: Contact your Congressional representatives directly. The AAS website provides scripts and guidance to help you get started.
• Encourage Others: Ask friends, family, and colleagues in other states or districts to contact their representatives. A coordinated effort amplifies your voice.
• Directly Contact Congressional Offices: Use the “contact” form on your representative’s webpage or email their staff. The AAS Public Policy Team is available to assist you.
• Set Up a Meeting: Arrange a meeting with your Congressional office—either in person at their local district office or via Zoom. Personal engagement is highly effective.

Best Practices for Engaging with Policy Makers

When meeting with Congressional staff or representatives, keep these best practices in mind:

• Remain Non-Partisan: Focus on the issues, not party politics.
• Be Clear and Concise: Use the “Bottom Line Up Front” (BLUF) approach—state your main point at the beginning.
• Keep It Conversational: Avoid jargon and make the discussion interactive.
• Do No Harm: Never advocate for cutting other scientific programs.
• Be Honest: If you don’t know the answer, say so.
• Be a Resource: Offer to follow up with more information or answer questions.
• Follow Up: Members of Congress have many priorities; a timely follow-up keeps your issue on their radar.

The Road Ahead

The next few months are critical for astronomy funding and policy:

• June–July: Details of the President’s Budget Request for FY2026 are released.
• July: House and Senate Appropriations Committees mark up key bills.
• Fall: House and Senate conference to finalize appropriations.
• October 1: Deadline for passing appropriations bills or adopting a continuing resolution—otherwise, the government could shut down.

Take Action Now

The AAS needs your voice to ensure that astronomy remains a priority for policymakers. Whether you’re a student, researcher, educator, or simply a supporter of science, your engagement makes a difference. Visit the AAS advocacy page, use the action alert forms, and consider reaching out directly to your representatives. Together, we can protect and advance the future of astronomy in the United States.

Visit the AAS website page, Advocacy-How to Get Involved, and contact the AAS Public Policy team to learn more. We look forward to hearing from you.

Your involvement is crucial—take action today and help shape the future of astronomy!

You can find the town hall slides on public policy here for a more detailed look. 

Budget cuts and canceled grants continue to threaten science and research.

The budget for the fiscal year hasn’t been set, but uncertainty continues to swirl as the proposed budget cuts will deeply affect NASA, the NSF, and other agencies that lead and support physics and astronomy. Canceled grants and research have already disparately affected scientists from underrepresented groups. The NSF had purposefully approved projects designed to broaden participation by scientists in underrepresented groups, including women, Black scientists, and those with disabilities. 

The smallest proposed NASA budget since 1961.
Source: The Planetary Society

According to an article from science.org, “More than half of the 1500 research grants that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has terminated in the past month under orders from President Donald Trump’s administration aimed to bring groups historically underrepresented in science into the mainstream. Ending those grants reversed decades of efforts focused on what the agency calls the “missing millions”: women, racial and ethnic minorities, veterans, and low-income and rural students.”

These grants have been cut for their association with DEI, which the current administration has labelled as exclusionary. In Jeffrey Mervis’s article, several debated that definition. 

“I get that Trump doesn’t like DEI, but we don’t exclude anybody,” says Tammie Visintainer, a science educator at San Jose State University (SJSU) who has lost NSF funding for two projects. One helps local secondary school teachers prepare units and guide student research on the health and environmental effects of urban heat islands, and the second aims to improve introductory undergraduate science courses at SJSU. Visintainer says the work benefits not just minority students at inner-city schools, but also suburban kids from wealthy families who have been turned off by boring lectures and prepackaged lab experiments that don’t reflect real scientific inquiry.

“Remember, white men are still a majority in science,” Handelsman says. “So when we improve how we teach science, the white male students learn more, too.

Read the full article “NSF grant cuts fall heaviest on scientists from underrepresented groups” at science.org. 

The NSF isn’t the only one dealing with this issue. Science News interviewed Harlan Krumholz, a cardiovascular medicine specialist at Yale School of Medicine, about his work to track which grants were terminated and their impact. 

“…when you look across institutes, the effects weren’t felt uniformly. We found that the National Institutes on Minority Health and Health Disparities … was hit the hardest. About 30 percent of their funding was cut. And that’s tenfold higher than the average cut. That was really striking to us.

Finally, we wanted to characterize not only which grants were cut, but also the career stage [of recipients]. That really kind of caught us off guard. One in 5, or about 20 percent of grants that were terminated, were classified as early career grants. These grants are really critical for early career researchers and the next generation of researchers to become independent investigators.”

Policy and equity researcher Michael Liu of Harvard University also assisted in the research, and both Liu and Krumholz are concerned for the future of science as the current atmosphere of uncertainly lowers morale and makes research less attractive to future scientists.

Read $1.8 billion in NIH grant cuts hit minority health research the hardest at sciencenews.org.

Meanwhile, the unpredictability continues with the current U.S. budget proposal set to tear into NASA’s and the NSF’s budgets. Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, has done exceptional work to bring to light how devastating these cuts will be. In an article for Scientific American, Dreier says, “This is a profound, generational threat to scientific leadership in the United States.” 

“If implemented, it would fundamentally undermine and potentially devastate the most unique capabilities that the U.S. has built up over a half-century.”

Source: The Planetary Society

The Planetary Society highlights the fact that the proposed budget is the smallest for NASA since 1961. Each of NASA’s four major divisions will be slashed 30 to 65% if passed. It would cancel 19 active missions, including Chandra, Juno, and New Horizons, and invalidate years of research and design, and over $12 billion invested in space science. 

The Planetary Society is running a petition to save NASA science. Visit the action center at planetary.org to sign it. You can also call your representatives and encourage them to support funding for NASA. The Planetary Society offers a script for the calls as well as information on how to prepare, FAQs, and the latest talking points. The calls only take one to two minutes. 

Let’s continue to advocate for science for everyone, by everyone.