ITIF - The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

04/06/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/06/2026 10:09

US Cannot Afford NSF Disinvestment as Global Competitors Accelerate, Says ITIF

WASHINGTON-Following reports that the Trump administration has called for eliminating the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) at the National Science Foundation, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released the following statement from Trelysa Long, policy analyst for economic theory at ITIF:

Proposals to eliminate the National Science Foundation's SBE directorate, which awarded $154 million last year across fields such as cognitive science, linguistics, and social psychology, raise important questions about federal research priorities. However, the greater risk is not reorganization; it is outright disinvestment. If policymakers choose to wind down SBE, they should fully redirect those funds to other critical areas, such as engineering and computer science. Cutting them altogether would weaken the U.S. research enterprise as global competitors accelerate their investments.The United States cannot afford to fall further behind in science and technology. ITIF analysis shows that while U.S. R&D spending reached $823 billion in 2023, compared to China's $781 billion, American growth is slowing significantly-averaging just 4.7 percent annually from 2019 to 2023, compared to China's 8.9 percent. When adjusted for cost efficiency, China's effective R&D investment rises to roughly $1.8 trillion, far surpassing U.S. levels.Broad cuts to the National Science Foundation would only intensify this trend, undermining America's long-term innovation capacity and global competitiveness.

Contact: Sydney Mack, [email protected]

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