Follow this year's science budget through Congress
Every federal research dollar passes through the same gauntlet: the White House proposes, the House and Senate each write their own bills, and a final compromise gets enacted into law. Here is where the money landed for fiscal year 2026, and what is on the table for FY 2027.
FY 2026 · Enacted
A complete budget cycle, start to finish
For fiscal year 2026, the White House requested $155.2B in federal research and development. Congress enacted $195B — 25.6% above the request. This is the difference between what an administration proposes and what actually becomes law.
Total federal R&D moved up as it passed through Congress
The R&D share of budget authority at each stage of the FY2026 appropriations process, as estimated by AAAS from OMB data.
Congress raised every agency above the request
How far each agency's enacted FY 2026 R&D estimate landed from the White House request — the gap between what was proposed and what became law. Both endpoints are AAAS estimates of the R&D share of budget authority, so the comparison stays within one measure.
The request leaned on development; Congress rebalanced toward research
FY 2026 R&D by type of work — what the White House requested versus what Congress enacted. AAAS estimates of R&D budget authority.
Where the FY 2026 money landed, agency by agency
| Agency | White House request | House | Senate | Enacted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dept. of Defense | $88.7B | $92.3B | $92.2B | $100.7B |
| NIH | $27.5B | $46.3B | $44.3B | $45.2B |
| Dept. of Energy | $14B | $15.7B | $15.6B | $17B |
| NASA | $7.2B | $10.3B | $11.1B | $11B |
| NSF | $3.1B | $5.9B | $6.7B | $6.6B |
| Dept. of Commerce | $3.1B | $3.2B | $3.5B | $3.7B |
| Dept. of Agriculture | $2.5B | $3.6B | $3.6B | $3.6B |
The biggest single pots of nondefense science money
The ten largest budget accounts at civilian science agencies, as enacted for FY 2026. Unlike the charts above, these are appropriated account totals — the dollars written into law — which fund whole programs and can include activity beyond R&D. Hover a row for what it funds.
FY 2027 · In progress
What’s proposed for next year
The FY 2027 budget is still moving through Congress. So far we have the White House request and the first House marks — the Senate bills and a final enacted number are not yet available. Because OMB has not published R&D estimates for FY 2027, this comparison uses appropriated budget authority on both sides: what Congress wrote into law for FY 2026 versus what the White House is asking for, for the same budget lines.
Each row names exactly what it covers — NIH rather than all of HHS, the DOE Office of Science rather than the whole Energy Department — so a line is never a stand-in for a full agency. These totals fund whole programs and can include activity beyond R&D.
| Budget line | FY 2026 enacted | FY 2027 request | Proposed change |
|---|---|---|---|
| NIH | $47.2B | $41.2B | -12.8% |
| NASA | $24.4B | $18.8B | -23% |
| DOD Science & Technology (6.1–6.3) | $21.7B | $25.2B | +15.8% |
| NSF | $8.8B | $4B | -54.7% |
| DOE Office of Science | $8.4B | $7.1B | -15% |
| NOAA | $6.2B | $4.5B | -27.9% |
| USDA Agricultural Research Service | $1.9B | $1.7B | -8.3% |
| NIST | $1.8B | $854M | -53.8% |
| USDA NIFA | $1.7B | $1B | -38.5% |
| USGS | $1.4B | $893M | -37.2% |
| EPA Science & Technology | $744M | $508M | -31.7% |
About these numbers
This page draws on two different measures of the federal budget, and they are not interchangeable. Appropriations are the dollar amounts Congress writes into law for specific budget accounts. They fund entire programs — salaries, facilities, operations — so an account total can include substantial activity beyond research. R&D estimates, produced by AAAS from OMB data, isolate just the research and development share of those budgets. R&D estimates are a subset of appropriations.
The FY 2026 charts above use AAAS R&D estimates unless labeled otherwise; the “biggest single pots” chart and the account-level tables use appropriated budget authority. OMB did not publish R&D estimates for FY 2027, so every figure for that year is appropriations-based, and year-over-year comparisons are made only between appropriations — never between an appropriation and an R&D estimate.
Common questions
- How much federal R&D funding did Congress enact for fiscal year 2026?
- Congress enacted about $195 billion in federal R&D budget authority for fiscal year 2026. That is 25.6% above the $155 billion the White House requested.
- What is the White House requesting for science funding in fiscal year 2027?
- The fiscal year 2027 request proposes cuts to most civilian science budgets. For example, the National Science Foundation would fall from $8.8 billion enacted to $4.0 billion and the National Institutes of Health from $47 billion to $41 billion in appropriated budget authority. These figures are appropriations — the account totals written into law, which can include activity beyond R&D — because OMB did not publish R&D estimates for fiscal year 2027. Congress is still working through the appropriations process, so these numbers will change before a budget is enacted.
- What is the difference between appropriations and R&D estimates?
- Appropriations are the dollar amounts Congress writes into law for specific budget accounts. They fund entire programs, so an account total can include substantial activity beyond research. R&D estimates, produced by AAAS from OMB data, isolate just the research and development share of those budgets — they are a subset of appropriations, and the two are not interchangeable. On this tracker, charts use AAAS R&D estimates unless labeled otherwise, while account-level tables and all fiscal year 2027 figures use appropriated budget authority.
- How does the federal R&D budget process work?
- Every federal research dollar passes through the same four stages. First the White House sends Congress a budget request. Then the House and Senate each write their own appropriations bills, which usually differ from the request and from each other. Finally the two chambers negotiate a compromise that is enacted into law. An agency's final budget can land far above or below what was originally requested.
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