Trump administration fires members of National Science Board: Sources
The Trump administration has fired multiple members of the National Science Board, the self-governing board responsible for overseeing the National Science Foundation, sources confirmed to ABC News Tuesday.
On Friday, multiple members of the 24-person NSB board received an email from the White House informing them that their positions were "terminated, effective immediately," the sources said.
"On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Science Board is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service," the email read, according to a copy obtained by ABC News.
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is a $9 billion independent federal funding agency founded by Congress in 1950 to "promote the progress of science," as well as "advance the national health, prosperity and welfare" and "secure the national defense." The board was created at the same time as the NSF.
The 25 members of the board, 24 of which are appointed by the president, are selected from academia and industry, and work across various science and engineering disciplines. The group is tasked with establishing the organization's policies and overseeing the agency.
In a statement to ABC News, a White House spokesperson said, "The Supreme Court's reasoning in U.S. v. Arthrex in 2021 raised constitutional questions about whether non-Senate confirmed appointees can exercise the authorities that Congress gave the National Science Board. We look forward to working with the Hill to update the statute and ensure the NSB can perform its duties as Congress intended. The National Science Foundation's work continues uninterrupted."
The news was first reported by The Washington Post.
In an interview with ABC News, board member Keivan Stassun, who works at Vanderbilt University, said that while "the writing was on the wall," his "emotional response was one of deep disappointment" when he received the email.
Stassun said that he believed the firings were the latest effort by the Trump administration to "exert control."
"It's not difficult to understand why the administration would want to remove any layers of governance that might get in the way," he said. "The administration wants to exert control ... in ways that don't necessarily align with congressional intent."
"There's definitively no formal explanation" for the firings, Stassun said. "There hasn't even been an informal explanation ... no communication at all from the White House or anyone."
The NSF makes financial grants to researchers, academic institutions and other organizations, funding more than 11,000 grants per year that support nearly 1,900 colleges, universities and research institutions.
To ensure fair and thorough evaluation, the NSF says it applies "a rigorous system of merit review" when determining which proposals should be funded. The agency says 50,000 independent reviewers contribute to the grant-making process each year.
The NSB also serves as an independent advisory board to the president and Congress for science and engineering policy matters. The board also produces research reports and policy briefs.
