The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law on July 4, is different from the fiscal year 2026 budget process. The bill is slated to enact some policy changes that impact R&D, but it does not impact spending plans for most federal science agencies.
Passed under the special budget reconciliation process, the bill extends some tax cuts, reduces spending on Medicaid and other entitlement programs, and boosts funding for border security and defense, among many other provisions.
The bill touches on areas that impact research and development, including new tax breaks for private, domestic R&D and a tax increase on large university endowments.
However, the bill does not reduce or cancel any existing research grants, and it does not reduce discretionary spending for the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy Office of Science, NIST, and NASA Science Directorate. That funding will be handled through the standard appropriations process, which is underway for fiscal year 2026. Decisions about research funding will happen in the coming months in the House and Senate.
APS continues its advocacy efforts to support robust budgets for the science agencies, and APS members and non-members can play a key role. To learn more about this work, and to help directly, visit APS in Action. If you are facing financial hardship, you can also request a membership fee waiver.
