February 13, 2018
President’s FY19 Request Proposes Continued Cuts to Science
Posted by cbunge
On 12 February 2018, the Trump Administration released the FY19 Budget Proposal, outlining their priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. Similar to last year, the budget outlined several drastic cuts to science.
This year’s budget proposal is quite unique, however, because Congress has not yet finished negotiations for final FY18 spending levels. As we reported last week, Congress passed a topline budget deal on 9 February that lifted the FY18 and FY19 caps on non-defense discretionary spending, which includes science funding.
Due to these last minute available funds, the President’s Budget Request included an addendum to account for the additional resources. The president proposed additional funds for NASA, NSF, DOE, and EPA in the addendum, which are accounted for the charts below.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
| FY2017 | President’s Budget Request for FY2018 | President’s Budget Request for FY2019 | |
| Overall | $30,786.01 | $28,042.00 | $30,609 |
| Office of Science | $5,392.00 | $4,472.52 | $5,391 |
| ARPA-E | $306.00 | $20.00 | $0 |
*Proposed and enacted funding levels in millions
Thumbs Up
- With the new budget deal, the Administration proposed allocating additional funds to Department of Energy (DOE) above their original request. As a result, DOE would see les than 1% cut rather than a 5% cut under this plan.
- The Office of Science would see flat funding compared to current funding levels, a 20% increase over the President’s FY2018 budget request.
Thumbs Down
- While DOE’s topline budget is relatively flat in the President’s budget request, many programs and offices would see severe cuts under the plan. For example,
- Funding for Advanced Research Project Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is zeroed out under the President’s budget; an elimination which was proposed in the President’s FY2018 budget and faced push back from both Democrats and Republicans.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
| FY2017 | President’s Budget Request for FY2018 | President’s Budget Request for FY2019 | |
| Overall | $8,058.49 | $5,700.00 | $6,124.00 |
| Science & Technology | $713.82 | $397.00 | $424.00 |
*Proposed and enacted funding levels in millions
Thumbs Up
- The President’s request for FY2018 is higher than his request for FY2018.
- The supplemental request reduced the proposed cuts under the President’s plan by adding another $725 million to the agency’s proposed topline number.
Thumbs Down
- The President’s budget proposes a nearly 25% decrease in EPA’s overall funding with a 40% decrease in Science and Technology.
- The President’s budget proposes the elimination of several EPA programs – including the Climate Change Research and Partnership Programs, Regional Science and Technology Programs, STAR research grants, Global Change Research Program and the Environmental Education Program – to “refocus EPA on its core mission” and “eliminate funding for lower priority programs”. According to the proposal, statutory requirements associated with these programs will be absorbed by other programs.
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
| FY17 Omnibus | President’s Budget Request for FY2018 | President’s Budget Request for FY2019 | |
| Overall | $1,085.12 | $922.17 | $859.68 |
| Ecosystems | $159.73 | $132.13 | $96.13 |
| Climate & Land Use Change | $149.28 | $112.85 | $103.24 |
| Energy, Minerals, & Environmental Health | $94.31 | $91.51 | $84.11 |
| Natural Hazards | $145.01 | $118.11 | $117.30 |
| Water Resources | $214.75 | $173.04 | $164.92 |
| Core Science Systems | $116.05 | $92.97 | $92.28 |
| Science Support | $105.61 | $89.37 | $89.25 |
| Facilities | $100.42 | $112.19 | $112.45 |
*Proposed and enacted funding levels in millions
Thumbs Up:
- The USGS budget request includes positive language regarding Landsat 9 and is supportive of a 2021 launch date.
Thumbs Down:
- USGS faces a 21% cut from the FY17 omnibus in the President’s Budget. The President’s Budget requests a 7% larger cut to the agency over last year’s proposal.
- The budget cuts approximately $13 million from the Earthquake Hazards program and cuts about $1.7 million to operate the Global Seismic Network, which plays a critical role in monitoring earthquakes around the nation and supporting research
- The President’s Budget Request nearly halves funding for the National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
| FY17 Omnibus | President’s Budget Request for FY2018 | President’s Budget Request for FY2019 | |
| Overall | $5,675.00 | $4,775.30 | $4,560.76 |
| National Ocean Service | $521.10 | $387.00 | $382.00 |
| National Marine and Fisheries Service | $851.54 | $821.00 | $810.00 |
| Oceanic and Atmospheric Research | $514.13 | $350.00 | $322.00 |
| National Weather Service | $1,121.57 | $1,059.00 | $1,053.00 |
| NESDIS | $2,203.60 | $1,816.00 | $1,640.00 |
| Mission Support | $261.47 | $234.00 | $245.00 |
| OMAO | $297.93 | $300.68 | $304.00 |
*Proposed and enacted funding levels in millions
Thumbs Up
- The President’s budget includes positive language about NOAA’s Polar Orbiting Satellites, and provides a slight funding boost to the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.
Thumbs Down
- The budget proposal cuts NOAA overall by 20%, the National Ocean Service by 27%, NOAA Research by 37%, and NOAA Satellites by 26%.
- The budget suggests cutting NOAA Climate Research programs by 38%.
- The Budget proposal terminates federal support for the network of 33 Sea Grant programs located in coastal States and territories.
NASA
| FY2017 | President’s Budget Request for FY2018 | President’s Budget Request for FY2019 | |
| Overall | $19,653.30 | $19,052.90 | $19,892.20 |
| Overall Science | $5,765.90 | $5,711.80 | $5,895.00 |
| Earth Science | $1,921.00 | $1,754.10 | $1,784.20 |
| Planetary Science | $1,846.00 | $1,929.50 | $2,234.70 |
| Heliophysics | $678.50 | $677.80 | $690.70 |
| James Webb Space Telescope | $569.40 | $533.70 | — |
| Education | $100 | $37.30 | $0.00 |
*Proposed and enacted funding levels in millions
Thumbs Up:
- The President’s request makes a strong investment in NASA Science, including planetary science and heliophysics. Additionally, the request includes plans to advance the latest Earth science decadal survey.
Thumbs Down:
- The President’s request once again de-prioritizes Earth Science and terminates 4 missions. Additionally, the request terminates the NASA Office of Education.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
| FY2017 | President’s Budget Request for FY2018 | President’s Budget Request for FY2019 | |
| Overall | $7,472.22 | $6,652.89 | $7,472.00 |
| Research & Related Activities | $6,033.65 | $5,361.65 | $6,151.00 |
| Education & Human Resources | $880.00 | $760.55 | $873.00 |
| Major Research Equipment & Facilities | $209.00 | $182.80 | $95.00 |
| National Science Board | $4.37 | $4.37 | $4.00 |
| Office of Inspector General | $15.20 | $15.01 | $15.00 |
| Agency Operations and Award Management | $330.00 | $328.51 | $334.00 |
*Proposed and enacted funding levels in millions
Thumbs Up
- The President’s request provides an increase in funding for the Research and Related Activities account, which includes funding for the Geosciences Directorate (GEO).
Thumbs Down
- The President request cuts funding for the Education and Human Resources Directorate, which supports important STEM education opportunities, such as Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), Innovation Corps (I-Corps), and the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).
There’s a clear pattern here. Beyond the hostility toward studying climate change, the cut for studying coastal environments correlates with the administration’s desire to promote offshore drilling. I hope that the AGU and other science organizations will make it clear to the administration and the public that studying the climate and the environment is crucially important to our future. Ignoring problems do not make them go away!