FY19 Budget Request Proposes Cuts to Programs Supporting Political Science

The Presidential Budget Request for the 2019 fiscal year maintains essentially flat funding for the National Science Foundation and repeats its recommendation that the federal government end support for the National Endowment for the Humanities, international education programs at the Department of Education, and Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. Although the budget request typically launches the appropriations cycle, Congress has yet to finalize appropriations for FY18, the current fiscal year.

The FY19 budget request initially proposed a $2.2 billion cut to NSF funding from enacted 2017 levels. However, the cut was negated in an addendum from the Office of Management and Budget that adjusted the proposals in light of the recently passed legislation that raised budget caps.

The budget proposal provides the NEH with $42 million to begin shutting down the agency. Congress rejected a similar request from the FY18 budget request. The House and Senate’s FY18 legislation recommends $145 and $149 million for the agency, respectively. The House and Senate also maintained funding for the Woodrow Wilson Center in FY18 legislation.

The Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays and Title VI programs are also targeted for elimination for a second time in the budget proposal. Fulbright-Hays also faces a threat for FY18 funding in Congress, as the House’s omnibus appropriations bill provides no funding for the doctoral dissertation research program.

Use the National Humanities Alliance’s tool to contact your members of Congress in opposition to the budget’s proposed cuts.