C&EN: "Lawmakers slash US science funding"

In C&EN, this news (article by Britt E. Erickson): 

More than 5 months into fiscal 2024, US lawmakers have reached an agreement that would fund about half the federal government through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. Under the spending bills, released March 3, several science-related agencies face steep budget cuts.

Hardest hit are the US Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Under the agreement, the EPA’s budget for the fiscal year would shrink to $9.2 billion, a roughly 10% decrease from fiscal 2023.

Lawmakers softened the blow slightly for the EPA’s science and technology programs by transferring $30 million to those areas from the Superfund hazardous waste account. The legislation also orders the EPA to brief Congress in the next few months on a spending plan for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) remediation, a court order to allow the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos, and ethylene oxide air emissions.

The NSF is slated to get $9.1 billion, and NIST, $1.2 billion, a decrease of about 8% each. Funding for agricultural research supported by the US Department of Agriculture would remain essentially flat at $3.8 billion.

It's really hard not to get irritated at Congress' routine fluctuations in the budget for federal R&D. I wish they would avoid this, and just keep to steady increases, year after year.