Trump administration fires board overseeing National Science Foundation
The Trump administration has fired all 22 current members of an independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation, one dismissed member says.
Members of the National Science Board received an email on Friday sent from the Presidential Personnel Office "on behalf of President Donald J. Trump" stating that their position was "terminated, effective immediately."
"I wasn't entirely surprised, to be honest," said dismissed board member Keivan Stassun in an email. Stassun, who works at Vanderbilt University, added that the decision was "enormously disappointing."
The National Science Board was created in 1950 to advise the president and Congress on science and engineering policy, approve major funding awards and guide the NSF's future.
It's typically made up of 25 members appointed by the president who serve staggered, six-year terms. The fired scientists hail from academia and industry and specialize in areas including astronomy, math, chemistry and aerospace engineering.
Every member of the current 22-person board was let go, according to terminated member Yolanda Gil. The board had planned to meet in person next week and was finalizing a report on the state of U.S. science, Gil said in an email.