U.S. SCIENCE BUDGET: Science Agencies Caught in Postelection Spending Squeeze

Science -- Lawler and Mervis 306 (5702): 1662 -- "U.S. SCIENCE BUDGET: Science Agencies Caught in Postelection Spending Squeeze": (subscription required.)

"An Administration determined to hold down spending in all but a handful of priority areas imposed its will on a lame-duck Congress shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday (Science, 26 November, p. 1453). The result was a turkey of a 2005 science budget for the majority of researchers--and the odds are that next year's menu will feature more of the same.

"Homeland security and defense research came away the big winners in the budget for the 2005 fiscal year, which began on 1 October, with NASA getting a last-minute boost and the Department of Energy's (DOE's) science programs doing surprisingly well. The National Science Foundation (NSF), on the other hand, took a cut despite promises of lofty growth, while the formerly high-flying National Institutes of Health (NIH) eked out a small increase for the second year in a row."