NSF reportedly slashes social science directorate’s budget amid White House proposal to eliminate it

News from Science reports that interviews with five recently departed staffers and newly available data show NSF has slashed the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences’ budget, throttled its decision-making and reduced its workforce. The White House’s fiscal 2027 budget request called for eliminating the directorate, which funds roughly two-thirds of U.S. academic social science research. Whether Congress will approve the request remains unclear.