The Trump administration has fired all 22 members of the National Science Board, the independent advisory body that oversees the National Science Foundation, in a sweeping action that removes the agency’s top policy and oversight panel ahead of major budget negotiations.
Donald Trump’s administration fires National Science Board members
The notice sent to National Science Board members came from the Presidential Personnel Office and was executed by the president’s authority. It informed recipients that their service had been “terminated, effective immediately,” offering no further justification for the abrupt end to their appointments.
The board, established by Congress in 1950, carries the statutory duty of counseling both the White House and lawmakers on matters of scientific research, engineering education, and major grant allocations. Members typically fill staggered six-year terms.
Keivan Stassun, a Vanderbilt University academic who lost his seat, acknowledged a degree of forewarning given the political climate but described the outcome as discouraging. “I wasn’t entirely surprised, to be honest,” he told The Guardian, before saying it was “enormously disappointing.”
Another ousted member, Yolanda Gil of the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute, confirmed the firings touched every person currently serving. The timing was particularly disruptive. After all, the board stood days away from convening an in-person gathering and was putting finishing touches on a comprehensive assessment of US science. Gil framed the event as the latest of a fundamental reshaping that the administration envisions for the National Science Foundation.
Roger Beachy, a biology researcher who had received a second term on the board from Donald Trump himself in 2020, recalled that the message he received was remarkably brief. “The termination email was brief and to the point, with a ‘thank you for your service,'” Beachy told Al Jazeera.
He voiced unease over what the sudden vacancies imply for the board’s future character, stressing that whether the panel remains independent or takes on a partisan coloring will prove vital to the foundation’s continued success.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory
