On April 24, 2026, President Trump abruptly dismissed all 22 members of the National Science Board (NSB), the independent body that sets policies for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and advises Congress and the President. No information was provided about the dismissals or whether or when the board would be reconstituted.
Former NSB members and others expressed concern about the firings and the board’s lack of leadership. For example, Gil, principal scientist at the USC Information Sciences Institute, who served on the NSB from 2024 until the April 24 dismissal, said: “[g]iven that the NSF director position has been vacant for a year, and that the NSB’s main role is governing NSF, the agency is left in a very precarious position… I think this is one more indication of the sweeping changes that the administration is planning for the National Science Foundation.”
In March 2026, President Trump nominated venture capitalist and biotech investor James O’Neill to the NSF director position, spurring criticism from scientists. Dr. Julian Reyes, chief of staff of the Union of Concerned Scientists, warned that “O’Neill would be the first head of NSF who wasn’t a scientist or engineer,” and that, if confirmed, “the Trump administration will further tighten its control over an agency created by Congress to be independent in its work to advance science.”