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Grant Witness

@grantwitness.org

We track data on federal funding to defend American science and the rule of law. https://grantwitness.org

7 Posts196 Follower54 Folgt
Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · last wk.

@noamross.net on NPR this morning. www.npr.org/2026/10/09/n... "I am always enthusiastic about more investment into science, but you could think of this as someone planting a tree somewhere where THEY just burned down a forest. We've lost so much scientific investment under this administration."

After his university cutbacks, Trump announces $100 million for STEM researchers

The Trump administration is funneling $100 million into educating STEM researchers who are U.S. citizens. The move comes after other changes under Trump have forced cutbacks in university research.

npr.org

Noam Ross@noamross.net · last wk.

I'm speaking at the NYC Statistical Computing Meetup about @grantwitness.org: how we use modern #rstats stack to produce trustworthy, reproducible, rapid data that powers activism, litigation, and journalism. Join us in-person @ NYU or online. Mon, Oct 19 at 7PM! www.meetup.com/nyhackr/even... 🧪

Grant Witness: An R-Powered Research and Advocacy Enterprise, Mon, Oct 19, 2026, 7:00 PM | Meetup

**[External registration](https://nyhackr.org/?utm_source=nyhackr)** required at **[nyhackr](https://nyhackr.org/?utm_source=nyhackr)**. This month we have Noam Ross retur

meetup.com

Dan Garisto@dangaristo.bsky.social · 2w ago

How did this happen? Officially, proposals went through the same process as before: peer review, program officer recommendation, section head approval. Unofficially, the choice was taken out of SBE's hands, going above the directorate head, Christina Freyman and to NSF leadership.

In the past, panels of independent scientists vetted proposals; program officers recommended those found worthy, and section heads approved them. But a new, unofficial process has removed decision-making power from all directorate staff and leadership. Only a few proposals in administration priority areas, such as cognitive science and AI, were allowed to move ahead, according to the former staffers. Program officers sent them to Freyman, who met with Simon Malcomber, NSF’s chief science officer. “Then he would come back with some decision,” a former staffer explains. “So it wasn’t his decision-making. He was in consult with others.” If Malcomber said a proposal was acceptable, a program officer was given the green light to officially recommend it. “They were very, very careful in terms of never putting anything in writing about what the process was,” the former staffer says. NSF did not respond to questions about the process.
Dan Garisto@dangaristo.bsky.social · 2w ago

In addition to spending less money and making fewer new grants, SBE also dramatically narrowed where it made those new grants. Areas such as economics, sociology, and archaeology received few to no grants.

Grantmaking gutted The National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) awarded far fewer new awards than typical in fiscal year 2026—just 91. (The fiscal year runs from 1 October to 30 September.) Most of the new grants focused on cognitive science and artificial intelligence, in alignment with White House priorities; offices that support fields such as economics, sociology, and research ethics, as well as postdoctoral fellowships, awarded no grants at all.
Dan Garisto@dangaristo.bsky.social · 2w ago

But no part was hit as hard as SBE, which went from an average of 800 new grants to just 91, a precipitous, 90% decline. SBE spent just 95 million on new grants, far less than its average of 247 million.

Chart of SBE new grants by FY shows a massive decline in FY26Chart of obligations by SBE shows a 62% decline in FY26
Dan Garisto@dangaristo.bsky.social · 2w ago

NEW: In March the White House released an FY27 budget request that zeroed out the National Science Foundation's directorate of Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). For months it was unclear what would happen. Now, with FY26 over, the damage to SBE is coming to light. My reporting:

‘Complete devastation’: How NSF gutted its social sciences research

Agency body that funds sociology, linguistics, and archaeology studies in U.S. gave 90% fewer new grants this year

science.org

Deb Houry@drdebhoury.bsky.social · last mo.

Really helpful website with information by sector and state on funding for programs that has been cut or frozen: Clawson, J., Kaczmarek, U., Ross, N., et al (2026). Lost Funds: A States United and Grant Witness Project Tracking Funding Disruptions under the Trump Administration lostfunds.org

Lost Funds — $177 Billion Gone

Track the Trump administration’s federal funding disruptions state by state — what was cut or frozen, who it hurts, and how states are fighting back in court.

lostfunds.org

Grant Witness@grantwitness.org · last mo.

We're proud to partner with @statesunited.org on the new Lost Funds project, comprehensive tracker of how the administration has usurped Congress's power of the purse and harmed local governments, businesses, nonprofits, tribes, schools, universities and communities across America.

States United Democracy Center@statesunited.org · last mo.

💰🚨 NEW: Since January 2025, the Trump administration has disrupted $177 billion across 17 funding sectors in all 50 states and DC. Our new project with @grantwitness.org tracks every dollar, grant by grant, and shows the impact of disruptions 🔗 www.lostfunds.org

States United Democracy Center@statesunited.org · last mo.

💰🚨 NEW: Since January 2025, the Trump administration has disrupted $177 billion across 17 funding sectors in all 50 states and DC. Our new project with @grantwitness.org tracks every dollar, grant by grant, and shows the impact of disruptions 🔗 www.lostfunds.org

Lost Funds — $177 Billion Gone

Track the Trump administration’s federal funding disruptions state by state — what was cut or frozen, who it hurts, and how states are fighting back in court.

lostfunds.org

States United Democracy Center@statesunited.org · 4w ago

🚨 Funding disruptions are harming farmers, doctors, children, teachers, police officers, disaster relief workers, and millions of other Americans across all 50 states trying to make ends meet. This is NOT business as usual. www.lostfunds.org

Lost Funds -- $177 Billion Gone

Track the Trump administration's federal funding disruptions state by state -- what was cut or frozen, who it hurts, and how states are fighting back in court.

lostfunds.org

Jenna Norton@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · last mo.

Please join me in thanking the named plaintiffs in this lawsuit, including @arghavansallesmd.medsky.social @michaeldgreen.phd & @jddaw.bsky.social These brave scientists are taking on risk to protect science, scientists & beneficiaries of science (all of us). www.aclu.org/press-releas...

Researchers Challenge NIH Screening of Grants for Disfavored Viewpoints | American Civil Liberties Union

Class action lawsuit seeks to stop censorship and termination of federally funded scientific research

aclu.org

elizabethginexi.bsky.social@elizabethginexi.bsky.social · last mo.

The Trump administration has cut or frozen up to $177 billion in federal grants since the president took office for his second term, according to a tracking tool released Wednesday by a pro-democracy nonprofit and a group of researchers and scientists. apnews.com/article/trum...

Trump administration has cut or frozen $177 billion in grants across every state, analysis shows

An analysis finds that the Trump administration has cut or frozen up to $177 billion in federal grants since the president took office for his second term.

apnews.com

Grant Witness@grantwitness.org · last mo.

We're proud to partner with @statesunited.org on the new Lost Funds project, comprehensive tracker of how the administration has usurped Congress's power of the purse and harmed local governments, businesses, nonprofits, tribes, schools, universities and communities across America.

States United Democracy Center@statesunited.org · last mo.

💰🚨 NEW: Since January 2025, the Trump administration has disrupted $177 billion across 17 funding sectors in all 50 states and DC. Our new project with @grantwitness.org tracks every dollar, grant by grant, and shows the impact of disruptions 🔗 www.lostfunds.org

Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · last mo.

Lots of stories across Pennsylvania about NIH grant terminations at Pitt and Penn. This is why speaking out matters. Even Congress critters who generally support the administration get pressured into actually supporting their constituents. www.wesanews.org/health-scien...

McCormick, Fetterman question termination of more than 100 health research grants

Pennsylvania’s senators are demanding information about more than 150 health research grants canceled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this summer.

wesanews.org

Grant Witness@grantwitness.org · last mo.

Glad to work with @aip.bsky.social to highlight the dramatic loss of support for physics from NSF this year. Dig into the numbers at grantwitness.org/nsf 🧪

Physics Today@physicstoday.aip.org · last mo.

With less than one month to go in the federal fiscal year, NSF has awarded 31% fewer grants in its math and physical sciences directorate than the average for 2000–24. https://physicstoday.aip.org/news/the-shrinking-nsf-support-for-the-physical-sciences?utm_campaign=PT_social

Dan Garisto@dangaristo.bsky.social · last mo.

Obligations are down 20%, about 1.5 billion. Most of that is due to the $1 billion in withheld funds, though it seems there's another ~$500 million sitting in accounts (~$350 million in the Office of the Director) which may just not be spent. 9/9 is the last day to internally commit funds.

Plot of NSF obligations shows FY26 is well below historic levels.
Dan Garisto@dangaristo.bsky.social · last mo.

Grantmaking has leveled off, so it looks like NSF will make around 6,200 new grants—down from an average of ~11,000. That's a historic low, not seen since the 1980s, when NSF was a far smaller organization. Left was our projection three weeks ago, right is the current data.

Previous plot of NSF new grants projected FY26 would be ~6100Current data for total new grants at NSF
Dan Garisto@dangaristo.bsky.social · last mo.

Penultimate? FY26 NSF grantmaking update One month ago (8/4) New grants: 4310/7761 — 55.5% of avg. Obligations: 4.10/5.08 billion — 80.7% of avg. Now (9/7) New grants: 6,144/10,857 — 67% of avg.* Obligations: 5.97/7.49 billion — 80% of avg. *avg. from 21–24 grantwitness.org/nsf/analyses...

Agency Pulse: Grantmaking at NSF

An independent, up-to-date, grant-level record of federal science funding disruptions in the United States.

grantwitness.org