Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Congress is kicking off budget talks for FY2025, and the heads of tech agencies are warning that any cuts will be dire for science and research.
Why it matters: Lawmakers and administration officials are piling on work for federal agencies as the U.S. competes in a global tech race.
- The National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation are flooded with CHIPS and Science Act and AI executive order mandates.
- The directors of both agencies were on the Hill this week telling lawmakers that budget cuts will hurt their efforts to outcompete China and support advanced technologies in the U.S.
State of play: House Appropriations Committee Republicans want nondefense cuts across the board, with NIST targeted for a 6% slash in FY25.
- NIST is requesting an increase of $13.9 million for quantum and $47.5 million for AI research, as well as nearly $312 million for facility needs.
- NIST director Laurie Locascio said at a Wednesday hearing that budget cuts would make it hard to protect existing federal staff.
- The FY24 budget cuts resulted in a hiring freeze and letting go of students and postdocs who were working on electric vehicle, clinical and biological standards, she said.
Locascio noted that the agency is on track meet all of its AI executive order deadlines but said that "it will be very, very tough moving forward if we don't get additional funding for the AI Safety Institute," which is housed at NIST.
What they're saying: "Instead of supporting this critical agency and putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to competition with China, Congress cut NIST's budget and seems poised to do so again this year," House Science Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren said.
NSF is requesting $10.2 billion next year, $1.14 billion more than Congress provided in FY24.
- The agency wants $30 million for the second year of its AI research pilot, more than $2 billion for R&D in critical technology areas like AI and quantum and $1.4 billion for STEM education and workforce development programs.
- During a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Thursday, NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan said the agency is "essentially just catching up" from the FY24 budget cuts with the president's FY25 request.
- "At the same time as we're having this going on, China invested 10% more in their science budget," he told appropriators.
What we're watching: Even though Congress is behind on funding the CHIPS and Science programs they passed into law, lawmakers are pushing proposals for more funding.
- One goal in the Senate AI report is to funnel $32 billion a year to nondefense AI work, a spending level proposed by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.
- The Senate working group suggested that committees develop emergency appropriations language to fill the gap between current spending levels and this $32 billion ask.
