The American Political Science Association (APSA) condemns the Trump Administration’s recent dismissal of all 22 members of the National Science Board (NSB), the independent advisory and oversight body for the National Science Foundation (NSF). This abrupt decision was carried out without any initial justification and may violate the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, the statute that established both NSF and the National Science Board.
Furthermore, the decision to dismiss the Board comes at a time when NSF is undergoing extensive internal reorganization, considering the outright elimination of funding for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate that supports social and political science research, and lacking a permanent director. This move is antithetical to the goals of NSF to pursue rigorous, scientific research in a nonpartisan manner, and constitutes a disservice to the agency, to the American people and the future of scientific inquiry.
APSA expresses gratitude to the former members of the National Science Board for their service on behalf of the greater scientific community. We further call on the scientific community to unify and advocate against the diminishing of U.S. research agencies, and we call on the U.S. Congress to exercise its oversight authority to rein in the Administration’s interference with NSF, the NSB, and the federally funded research enterprise.
Susan Stokes
APSA President
Beth Simmons
APSA President-Elect
Taeku Lee
APSA Past President
Kimberly A. Mealy
APSA Executive Director
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