Trump Fires the Entire National Science Board in One Sweep

Science just got fired

The Trump administration has dismissed the entire National Science Board (NSB) — the body responsible for advising the president and Congress on the National Science Foundation (NSF). This isn't a routine reshuffle. It's a full institutional gutting with real consequences for American tech and innovation.

The NSF isn't some obscure bureaucracy. It's the organization behind the research that made MRI machines possible, helped build the foundation for modern cellphones, and even played a role in getting Duolingo off the ground. Unglamorous? Sure. Critical? Absolutely. Basic science funding is the long game that turns into the technology everyone eventually takes for granted.

Here's what makes this move particularly reckless: the NSF was already struggling. Funding had already dropped to historically low levels, and grant disbursements were facing significant delays. Firing the entire advisory board now is like removing the navigation system from a plane that was already flying on fumes. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, ranking Democrat on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, didn't mince words, calling it "the latest stupid move" from this administration.

For the startup and tech community, the downstream effects are real. No public science funding pipeline means fewer breakthroughs bubbling up from universities and labs — the very breakthroughs that seed the next generation of companies. Source: The Verge