Critics slam Trump’s mass termination of National Science Board

Top-ranking Democrat calls dismissals 'Bozo the Clown' move, says U.S. president could populate board with loyalists.

Published Apr 28, 2026  •  2 minute read

The National Science Foundation is guided by the National Science Board. Photo by Mark Schiefelbein /The Associated Press

Critics are sharply criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump’s mass termination of the National Science Board, an advisory body that guides the National Science Foundation, fearing the move will discourage investment in research and talent development.

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On Monday, Trump terminated the 22-member board. Many of them received a short email from the administration.

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“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I’m writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately,” read an email, according to the L.A. Times. “Thank you for your service.”

Keivan Stassun, a physics and astronomy professor at Vanderbilt University, told the Times that he reached out to other board members, who said they received the same termination notice. Stassun called it the termination represented “a wholesale evisceration of American leadership in science and technology globally.”

The White House has given no reason for the mass dismissal, nor did it provide information on when they would be replaced, if at all.

NSF history

The National Science Foundation was founded more than 75 years ago as an independent agency by President Harry Truman to boost U.S. science in the interest of national security and international competition during the Cold War. It supports research and education across all non-medial fields of science and engineering. Stassun said Trump could feasibly now run the agency though the Office of Management and Budget.

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“What it means is that there won’t be any practical impediments to the administration essentially enacting their own budget and priorities and ignoring Congress’ directives or congressional law,” Stassun told the Times.

‘Bozo the clown move’

House Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat on the House Science, Space and Technology committee, called the terminations, “the latest stupid move made by a president who continues to harm science and American innovation,” adding Trump could populate an apolitical body with his own people.

““It unfortunately is no surprise a president who has attacked NSF from day one would seek to destroy the board that helps guide the foundation,” Lofgren added. “Will the president fill the NSB with MAGA loyalists who won’t stand up to him as he hands over our leadership in science to our adversaries? A real bozo the clown move,” Lofgren said in a statement.

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