The U.S. research enterprise faces near paralysis, creating a cascade effect in the STEMM workforce and infrastructures known to produce world-class science. While no one can say how the rest of the year will unfold, we are using all the levers possible to ensure that the voice of science remains strong, that R&D funding is as secure as possible, and that STEMM professionals at all career stages feel seen and supported.

The President’s Budget Request for fiscal year 2026, released last Friday, would be catastrophic for R&D. But these steep cuts are not final, nor are they inevitable. AAAS has called upon Congress to reaffirm its long-standing bipartisan support by rejecting this budget and instead approving one that maintains a competitive level of investment in research and innovation. If you’re interested in learning more, you can check out the AAAS dashboard to see the topline figures based on available data and how they compare with the FY 2025 continuing resolution.

I also testified last week as the bipartisan witness before the Senate Appropriations Committee, urging Congress to immediately course-correct near-term challenges — especially possible cutbacks to the fiscal year 2026 budget that could lead the U.S. scientific enterprise to a potential catastrophe.  It is simply crucial that our nation’s research enterprise retain its position as an engine of hope and prosperity for millions of Americans.

Times of duress produce much anxiety, but they also yield opportunities to find common ground for ways to move forward and grow stronger. To that end, we’ve corralled the latest resources, support for members, and news in one place that we hope will prove useful: Speaking Up for the U.S. Scientific Enterprise. And thank you to those of you who have shared what you’re going through via our Member Survey: Assessing the Impacts of Federal Policies on the U.S. STEMM Community. Your stories fuel and inform our efforts in Washington, across the country, and around the world.

Many of you are familiar with our Golden Goose Award, which illustrates unexpected impacts of federally funded research. For inspiration, I leave you with a new Radiolab interview with a past winner, AAAS Fellow Hudson Freeze: “a parable about the unforeseeable miracles that basic research [funded by the U.S. government] can yield.”