The Federal appropriations process for FY2026 is about to begin: the Presidential Budget Request (PBR) to Congress is anticipated to be released imminently. Reports from Washington continue to indicate the PBR will likely include drastic cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD). If such cuts were to be implemented, they would have a devastating impact on our country’s scientific workforce and research infrastructure, and they would represent an abject surrender of US scientific leadership to our international competitors.
You can have a direct voice in the FY2026 appropriations process through your congressional representatives. A very direct method is to submit a “constituent appropriations request form” for your Congressional offices. Offices use these forms to hear about funding priorities for their constituents and determine what funding recommendations they will make. The AAS has put together a guide for how to submit these forms here.
In addition to FY26 appropriations, there is still work to be done with FY2025. With a continuing resolution (CR) passed by Congress for the remainder of FY25, program management across key sponsor agencies has recently been required to submit a plain-language defense of every single contract or grant they administer. With our funding and grant programs under serious threat, it is extremely important that each of us contact our legislators and express how important science in general and our field in particular are to the nation, and to request that funding be maintained to support existing programs without substantial cuts.
Here is a SHORT LIST of talking points. You can also refer to the longer list below.
– The Federally funded scientific enterprise is a core reason for America’s long-term economic and technical dominance;
– A healthy science community is critical to American competitiveness against other nations;
– Scientific funding is important for the local economy in your district;
– What would be the national, enterprise, and local consequences of major long-term funding cuts to your research or that of your colleagues? For example, “I would have to shut down my lab, firing <n> personnel”; “It would impact our national ability to forecast space weather and mitigate its impacts”; etc.
Please take action TODAY. The most straightforward way is to follow the step-by-step instructions, with template letter, on the AAS advocacy web page.
To send an email: https://aas.org/advocacy/get-involved/action-alerts
To contact directly by phone (even more effective): https://aas.org/call-action-heliophysics-coalition
This can take as little as a few minutes of your time, and has been shown to have an effect in prior budget years.
Widespread action across our field is of critical importance: please share this email with colleagues and remind them to take a few minutes today.
Sincerely,
Your SPD Special Action Task Force
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P.S. On March 6, the Helio Coalition (a joint committee of AAS and AGU) sent the following open email about the 2026 funding, which we reproduce here – with new Congressional committee updates – for reference. It contains instructions and talking points to bring to your legislators, and handy lists of important legislators. If one of your state’s legislators is on one of the lists, your voice is especially important!
6 March 2025
Helio Coalition
As you are aware, there is currently considerable – dare we say unprecedented – uncertainty regarding the future of federal support for solar and space physics research. Reported potential impacts include reductions in workforce at these agencies, impediments to grant funding and limitations on associated overhead charges, and drastic budget cuts. While we do not yet know if or how these impacts may manifest themselves for our funding agencies, we remain confident that our work is both necessary and appreciated by the public. This includes developing research results, transitioning actionable knowledge to operations, supporting and developing our workforce, and training the next generation to ensure continuity of scientific expertise and leadership.
One way to empower ourselves in such uncertain times is to advocate. Given the rapid pace at which some of these changes are occurring – especially regarding potential workforce reductions at critical agencies – immediate action is necessary.
The most impactful way to do this is to work with the government relations professionals at our institutions, who regularly interact with policymakers and other stakeholders on the Hill. In reaching out to them, it is important to a) ensure that they understand how and why solar and space physics is important to your institution and b) work with them to craft effective messaging that they can use when communicating with stakeholders and policymakers. Notably, this is unfortunately not an option for federal employee colleagues.
As individuals, you can also contact your Congressional representatives directly; this is a right for all of us, including foreign nationals. If you are employed by the federal government, you must ensure that you are representing your views as a private citizen, not as an employee. Thus, please do not use company e-mail addresses or telephones. You can find contact information for your Representative at https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative and your Senators at https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm. This can be done for both your home and work addresses to potentially increase your impact to different Congressional offices.
To ensure consistency of messaging, we ask that your engagement be guided by the talking points provided below. Sending an email is an option, but making a phone call would potentially be much more effective; if you do call, it is best to write out your script or talking points in advance to best prepare a coherent and effective message. Feel free to amplify any topic(s) that you believe would resonate with your Representative or Senator, such as the impact of your work on the local community and/or state. In particular, emphasis should be placed on engaging Senators and Representatives – especially Republicans – on the respective Appropriations and Authorization Committees (see lists at the end of this email).
We also strongly encourage you to share this messaging and your personal story with friends, family, and colleagues, both publicly and privately, and to encourage others if they are willing to also reach out to their Representatives and Senators and amplify the support for our research.
The grassroots Heliophysics Coalition, which operates jointly with AGU and AAS, is a resource that can help guide you in how to advocate effectively. If you have specific questions, we recommend reaching out to the points of contact for the Coalition, Ian Cohen ([email protected]) and Gordon Emslie ([email protected]).
Suggested Talking Points:
* Your name and place of residence or work (include your full address if it is a voicemail so they can verify)
* U.S. needs to continue its decades-long investment in solar and space physics research.
* Space physics research enhances our understanding of Earth’s “home in space”, enables space exploration, and has practical applications for our national security
* “Space weather” effects on infrastructure can include impacts to communications networks, satellite operations and orbit prediction/tracking, power grids, GPS, etc.
* Space physics research is supported by a number of federal agencies, including NASA, NSF, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department of Defense (DOD).
* Provide high-level details of your research at your institution, assuming a middle school-level of understanding. (Feel free to add details on where you get funding from – e.g., NASA, NSF, etc.; how large your group, department, or lab is; and how your research funding affects the local area, students, etc. This is the portion where you need to get them to understand that this is a big deal to their district/state and not just you as an individual.
* Maintaining robust support within these agencies will allow the U.S. to maintain its world leadership in space and avoid possibly irreversible effects on our nation’s preeminence in this critical field.
* Specific and immediate concern that many departments and agencies that support and enable this research are currently undergoing rapid and substantial refocusing of their priorities.
* It is critical that the staffing at these agencies – much of which has and requires highly specialized technical expertise – be maintained at a level that is commensurate with the scope of the important programs of research that they administer.
* Must ensure that the required technical expertise and staffing required to support space physics research is not forfeited within NASA Heliophysics Division, NSF Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences, NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, NOAA Office of Space Weather Observations, and pertinent areas within the DoD and DoE
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
* Sen. Moran (KS-R) – Chair
* Sen. Van Hollen (MD-D) – Ranking Member
* Sen. Britt (AL-R)
* Sen. Collins (ME-R)
* Sen. Coons (DE-D)
* Sen. Fischer (NE-R)
* Sen. Gillibrand (NY-D)
* Sen. Graham (SC-R)
* Sen. Hagerty (TN-R)
* Sen. Kennedy (LA-R)
* Sen. Merkley (OR-D)
* Sen. Moore Capito (WV-R)
* Sen. Murkowski (AK-R)
* Sen. Peters (MI-D)
* Sen. Reed (RI-D)
* Sen. Schatz (HI-D)
* Sen. Shaheen (NH-D)
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
* Rep. Rogers (KY-05, R) – Chair
* Rep. Strong (AL-05, R) – Vice Chair
* Rep. Meng (NY-06, D) – Ranking Member
* Rep. Alford (MO-04, R)
* Rep. Carter (TX-31, R)
* Rep. Cline (VA-06, R)
* Rep. Clyde (GA-09, R)
* Rep. Dean (PA-04, D)
* Rep. Gonzales (TX-23, R)
* Rep. Ivey (MD-04, D)
* Rep. Moore (WV-02, R)
* Rep. Morelle (NY-25, D)
* Rep. Mrvan (IN-01, D)
Senate Subcommittee on Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation (Authorization)
(UPDATED MARCH 28, 2025)
* Sen. Moran (R-KS) – Chair
* Sen. Duckworth (D-IL) – Ranking Member
* Sen. Budd (R-NC)
* Sen. Capito (R-WA)
* Sen. Fetterman (D-PA)
* Sen. Hickenlooper (D-CO)
* Sen. Kim (D-NJ)
* Sen. Rosen (D-NV)
* Sen. Schmitt (R-MO)
* Sen. Sheehy (R-MT)
* Sen. Thune (R-SD)
House Committee on Space and Aeronautics (Authorization)
* Rep. Haridopolos (FL-08, R) – Chair
* Rep. Foushee (NC-04, D) – Ranking Member
* Rep. Collins (GA-10, R)
* Rep. Fong (CA-20, R)
* Rep. Gillen (NY-04, D)
* Rep. Kennedy (UT-03, R)
* Rep. McCormick (GA-07, R)
* Rep. Salinas (OR-06, D)
* Rep. Self (TX-03, R)
* Rep. Stevens (MI-11, D)
* Rep. Webster (FL-11, R)
* Rep. Whitesides (CA-27, D)