The US National Science Foundation (NSF) plans to expropriate money from its core science programs to fund an initiative by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Nature has learned. The move would put pressure on already tight budgets and force the agency to rescind funding for research proposals that are nearly finalized.

NSF staff members, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, and an internal NSF ledger viewed by Nature suggest that NSF plans to recoup about $500 million that has already been distributed to grant-making divisions. That money would be drawn from three of the NSF’s eight major areas or directorates: engineering; computer and information sciences and engineering; and mathematical and physical sciences.

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To accommodate the expected withdrawal of funds, program officers, who handle grant proposals, in all three directorates must withdraw proposals that have already passed peer review and been recommended for funding. More than 100 proposals have been affected; According to agency staff members, many of the researchers who submitted those proposals had already been informally notified of their awards.

Revoking funding would increase pressure on the NSF. The US Congress cut the agency’s total funding for this year by about 3% from 2025 levels, to $8.75 billion, but domestic budget figures seen by Nature indicate that about a billion dollars of that money never reached the addresses.

News of the withdrawal of funds from NSF directorates was first reported by Sciencewhich stated that the funds would go to the NSF X-Labs initiative, a ten-year program to support technological development.

An NSF spokesperson did not comment on the amount of funds withheld or withdrawn and did not specify how those funds would be spent. But the spokesperson said reports about funds being redirected to

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Several NSF staff members said Nature that at least some of the funds will be funneled to another project, a brainchild of the White House OSTP.

The OSTP did not respond to NatureRequest for comments. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has called out the NSF for “wasteful spending” and a “growing lack of objectivity.”

Dan Reed, a computer scientist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, says he is concerned that the White House will redirect money from peer-reviewed funding channels at the NSF. Reed was chairman of the National Science Board from 2022 to 2024, which oversaw the NSF until the White House dissolved the board in April.

Imminent deadlines

In February, OMB sent billions of dollars that the U.S. Congress had appropriated to the NSF. But when the NSF distributed funds to its addresses in mid-April, it withheld nearly $1 billion of that money, according to an analysis by Nature of internal budget documents. At the time, staff members were not concerned because the agency frequently withholds 10 to 15% of its budget until both OMB and Congress approve a detailed spending plan for the NSF. They generally do so shortly after Congress sets the agency’s budget for the year.

With fiscal year 2026 ending on September 30, NSF employees are now concerned that the $1 billion in withheld funds will not be released. If not, the combination of withheld funds and recoveries would result in funding cuts of more than 30% for most directorates compared to their planned 2025 spending, according to NatureThe calculations. The exception is the Directorate of Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, which will still receive a boost of around 30% (see ‘Funding gap’).

These cuts could pit the White House science and budget offices against Congress. In a non-binding document accompanying the 2026 spending bill, Congress directed the NSF to “equitably distribute funds” and avoid cutting any direction by more than 5%.