Trump administration fires all members of US National Science Board | Donald Trump News
Trump Administration Dismisses All Members of National Science Board
By [Author Name]
Published April 28, 2026
The Trump administration has removed all 22 members of the National Science Board (NSB), the policy-making body for the National Science Foundation (NSF), according to an ex-board member and lawmakers familiar with the situation.
This action is part of a broader effort by the administration to restructure the federal government, which includes recent moves to reduce the size of the Department of Education and to eliminate the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Roger Beachy, who was reappointed to the NSB by President Trump in 2020, confirmed that he and his fellow board members were not provided an explanation for their dismissals. “The termination email was brief and to the point, thanking us for our service,” Beachy, an emeritus biology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, told Al Jazeera.
Beachy expressed concerns about the future direction of research and education that might be supported by the NSF under a newly appointed board. “The nature of the board—whether it will be partisan or independent—and how it interacts with the agency is critical to the continued success of the NSF,” he stated.
Democratic lawmakers condemned the administration’s decision, which they had previously learned about through unofficial channels. Zoe Lofgren, the most senior member of the House Committee on Science, Technology, and Space, criticized the move in a statement. “This is the latest misguided action by a president who continues to undermine science and American innovation,” Lofgren said. She questioned whether the new board would consist of individuals who would challenge the administration’s approach, labeling the firings as a “real bozo the clown move.”
The White House and the NSF did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. To date, President Trump has not publicly acknowledged the dismissals, although his administration previously proposed significant budget cuts to the NSF.
In a cost-cutting initiative led by tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, officials last year scrapped or suspended over 1,600 NSF grants totaling nearly $1 billion. Established as an independent federal agency in 1950, the NSF allocated more than $8 billion for scientific research and education in 2025, making it one of the largest funders of science globally.
