House Appropriators Poised to Reject Proposed NASA Budget Cuts

The House Appropriations Committee is poised once again to reject the deep cuts to NASA proposed by the Trump Administration for FY2027. The Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee is recommending $24.4 billion, the same as FY2026, instead of the $18.8 billion requested. The subcommittee will mark up the bill tomorrow, the first step in the lengthy annual appropriations process.

This morning the committee released the CJS bill, which includes NASA, NOAA, and the National Science Foundation, as well as the Department of Commerce and the Department of Justice. Total funding in the bill is $77.341 billion.

NASA would receive $24.438 billion, the same as FY2026, versus $18.829 billion requested, a 23 percent reduction.

• Science: $6.000 billion ($3.894 billion was requested)
• Aeronautics: $850 million ($609.5 million was requested)
• Space Technology: $913 million ($624.3 million was requested)
• Exploration: $8.926 billion ($8.514 billion was requested)
• Space Operations: $4.403 billion ($3.047 billion was requested)
• Safety, Security, and Mission Services (SSMS): $3.100 billion, including $26 million for EPSCoR and $58 million for Space Grant ($1.999 billion, with none for EPSCoR, Space Grant or other STEM Engagement programs)
• Construction and Environmental Compliance & Restoration (CECR): $200 million ($100.6 million was requested)
• Inspector General: $46.5 million ($41.1 million was requested)

The subcommittee had indicated its dismay at the President’s Budget Request (PBR) during Monday’s hearing with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.  Subcommittee chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Kentucky) called the request “disappointing” and Ranking Member Rep. Grace Meng (D-New York) was among those expressing concern especially about the 46 percent proposed cut to NASA’s science programs.

Isaacman insisted at that and two other recent hearings that the requested funding is adequate as long as NASA spends it wisely.

The budget request does not reflect the FY2027 portion of the $10 billion Congress provided to NASA over several years in the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) last year. Rogers said at the hearing that about $2 billion of that is for FY2027. The money is allocated for NASA’s human exploration activities.

In a press release, the committee said the recommended funding supports President Trump’s December 2025 Executive Order on Ensuring American Space Superiority and maintains “strong support” for the Artemis program to “ensure American astronauts are the first to return to the Moon.”

The FY2027 request was very similar to FY2026, which this committee and Congress as a whole also rejected.

Subcommittee markup is scheduled for 8:00 am ET tomorrow, April 30, and will be webcast on the committee’s website. Full committee markup is scheduled for May 13.