After Board Axed, Prior NSF Heads Call for Members, Director

Thirteen former leaders of the National Science Foundation are asking the Senate and the Trump administration to install leaders for the agency, after its director resigned more than a year ago and the White House ousted the entire National Science Board last month. The board oversees the research funding agency, which has a nearly $9 billion annual budget.

“We write with a single purpose: to underscore the urgency of restoring full leadership and governance at the National Science Foundation during a period of intense international competition,” the former NSF directors and board chairs wrote in a letter Thursday. They served under both Democratic and Republican presidents, with one director’s service stretching back to 1976.

“China’s five-year plan targets the precise areas where American strength is most critical—artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology, quantum technology, and advanced manufacturing—backed by sustained investment and a rapidly expanding scientific workforce,” they write. “For the first time in our history, China is investing more in [research and development] than the U.S.”

Warning of the national security danger of “scientific surprise,” the former leaders wrote that “NSF’s portfolio, spanning every field of inquiry and selected on merit alone, is the nation’s primary hedge against the risk of scientific surprise. NSF needs both its Director and its Board to meet its mission.”

The Trump administration said in February that it’s nominating Jim O’Neill as NSF director, but the Senate hasn’t yet confirmed him.

The White House fired all science board members April 24. A few days later, it pointed to a 2021 Supreme Court decision as the reason, saying the court’s ruling in U.S. v. Arthrex “raised constitutional questions about whether non-Senate confirmed appointees can exercise the authorities that Congress gave the National Science Board.” The board’s members are appointed by the president, but not confirmed by the Senate.

“We look forward to working with the Hill to update the statute and ensure the NSB can perform its duties as Congress intended,” the White House said in an email early last week. Since then, it hasn’t responded to follow-up questions about whether this means President Trump won’t appoint new board members until Congress changes the law.

The 13 former NSF leaders wrote that “the NSF Director ensures the agency executes effectively and serves the country. The National Science Board, composed of distinguished scientists, engineers, and public servants drawn from every field and every corner of the nation, provides the vision, strategic oversight, national perspective, and connection to the research frontier. Together, they make NSF greater than the sum of its parts.”