Senate appropriators trim NSF budget by 2.4%

Science : The Senate subcommittee that funds NSF, NASA, and the key research agencies within the Department of Commerce yesterday approved part of an appropriations bill that would reduce NSF’s current budget by 2.4%, or $162 million. In imposing the cut, the Senate appropriators went further than their House counterparts, who passed a bill in July that would keep NSF’s budget at this year’s level of $6.86 billion. Whether the NSF budget cut makes it into the final Senate appropriations bill will depend on the full appropriations committee, which meets today.