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Go to: -R&D
in the FY 2008 Budget -The
FY 2008 R&D Budget in Historical Context -Highlights
of the Major R&D Funding Agencies -Budget
Context and Outlook -Table
1. R&D in the FY 2008 Budget by Agency
-Table
2. Research in the FY 2008 Budget -Table
3. Major Functional Categories of R&D -
Table 4. Homeland Security R&D -
Table 5. R&D by Appropriations Subcommittee -
Table 6. Interagency Science and Technology Initiatives
PDF version
of this document Detailed
agency updates (available soon): U.S.
Department of Agriculture Department of Commerce Department
of Defense Department of
Energy Department of Homeland
Security Department of the
Interior Department of Transportation Department
of Veterans Affairs Environmental
Protection Agency National
Aeronautics and Space Administration National
Institutes of Health and HHS National
Science Foundation Supplemental
Tables and Full-Color Charts (PDF) -Table.
Total R&D by Agency (Preliminary 2/07)
-Table.
Basic Research by Agency (Preliminary 2/07)
-Table.
Applied Research by Agency (Preliminary 2/07)
-Table.
Research in the FY 2008 Budget (Preliminary 2/07)
-Table.
Development by Agency (Preliminary 2/07)
-Table.
Conduct of R&D by Agency (Preliminary 2/07)
-Table.
R&D Facilities and Capital Equipment by Agency (Preliminary 2/07)
-Historical Table 1. R&D by Agency, 1976-2008
(Preliminary 2/07)
-Historical Table 2. R&D
by Agency, 1976-2008 in Constant Dollars (Preliminary
2/07) -Chart. Trends in Federal
R&D, 1976-2008 (Preliminary 2/07)- Data Table
-Chart. Trends in Federal R&D by character of work,
1976-2008 (Preliminary 2/07)
- Chart. Trends
in Federal R&D as % of GDP, FY 1976-2008 - Data
Table
-Chart. Selected Trends in Nondefense
R&D, 1976-2008 (Preliminary 2/07)
-Chart.
Trends in Research by Agency, 1976-2008 (Preliminary 2/07) - Data
Table
-Chart. Trends in Basic Research,
1976-2008 (Preliminary 2/07) - Data Table
-Chart. Trends in Defense R&D, 1976-2008 (Preliminary
2/07) - Data Table
-Chart.
Trends in DOD S&T, 1994-2008 (Preliminary 2/07) - Data
Table
-Chart. Trends in Federal R&D, FY
1995-2008 (DOD, NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, USDA) (Preliminary 2/07)
-Chart.
Trends in Federal R&D, FY 1995-2008 (DOC, DOI, DOT, EPA) (Preliminary 2/07)
-Chart. Trends in DOE Office of Science, 1987-2008 (Preliminary
2/07) - Data Table -Chart.
Defense and Nondefense R&D, 1949-2008 (2/07) - Data
Table
-Chart. Nondefense R&D by Function,
1953-2008 (2/07) - Data Table |
(All figures in this analysis are preliminary and will
be revised in later AAAS releases. This analysis is a preview of the forthcoming
AAAS Report XXXII: Research and Development FY 2008, a comprehensive look
at the President's budget for R&D in FY 2008. This analysis contains the latest
AAAS estimates of R&D in FY 2007 appropriations. More tables and continually
updated supplemental materials on R&D in the FY 2007 and 2008 budgets can
be found on the AAAS R&D Web site at www.aaas.org/spp/rd).
On
February 5, President Bush released his proposed budget for FY 2008. The new budget
continues old themes from previous budgets with large proposed increases for the
three physical sciences agencies in the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI),
increases for weapons development and human spacecraft development, and declining
funding for the rest of the federal research and development (R&D) portfolio.
Within an overall budget that once again proposes to restrain domestic spending
but dramatically increase defense spending, many agencies such as the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) would see their R&D funding fall. The overall federal
investment in R&D would increase to $143.0 billion, a 1.4 percent increase
over the likely final total for the still-unfinished FY 2007 budget, but development
funding would take up the entire increase and more. The federal investment in
basic and applied research would fall 2.0 percent from the likely 2007 total to
$55.4 billion in 2008 as gains in the ACI agencies would be more than offset by
cuts in other agencies’ research funding. In real terms, the federal research
investment would fall for the fourth year in a row after peaking in 2004. R&D in the FY 2008 Budget: Once Again, Gains for Weapons, Space Vehicles, and the Physical Sciences,
Cuts for Others In
its broad outlines, President Bush’s proposed budget for FY 2008 once again offers
the same themes as in previous years: big increases for defense and homeland security,
trims in some entitlement programs, extensions of expiring tax cuts, and a promise
to reduce the budget deficit primarily by cutting domestic discretionary spending.
Unlike last year, when the ACI made its debut, there are no new R&D initiatives
in the budget but rather a sustained commitment to increasing funding for the
three favored agencies of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department
of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) laboratories in Commerce. The three research-oriented ACI agencies
lead the pack in R&D gains (see Figure 1), followed closely by proposed gains
for development programs in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and the Department of Defense (DOD; see Figure 1). But within a declining
domestic budget, there would be stark contrasts between these priority programs
and everything else: nearly all other nondefense R&D
programs would face cuts, and defense research would also fall steeply. Because
only DOD and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have their final 2007 budgets,
most federal agencies prepared their 2008 budgets based on temporary funding levels
contained in a continuing resolution (CR) that expires on February 15. The current
CR mostly assumes 2007 funding that is flat with 2006. But just last week, the
House approved a full-year funding resolution that would dramatically boost funding
for key R&D agencies, including NIH and the ACI agencies. The Senate is expected
to approve the resolution mostly unchanged within the next week, thereby finalizing
2007 appropriations at last. As a result, the 2007 funding baseline for many agencies
has shifted dramatically in the past week. (All figures in this release are preliminary
and will be revised in later AAAS releases with revised agency data. The FY 2007
figures and therefore FY 2007-08 comparisons are based on revised AAAS estimates
of R&D in the FY 2007 joint funding resolution as approved by the House. In
many cases, the revisions result in funding trends that differ significantly from
funding trends reported in the President’s budget documents.)  Figure
1. (click on the image for PDF) -
The proposed federal R&D portfolio in FY 2008 is a record $143.0 billion,
$2.0 billion or 1.4 percent above this year’s likely funding level (see Table
1 and Figure 2). Once again, development would be the clear winner: development
funding would hit a new high of $82.8 billion (up $2.4 billion or 3.0 percent)
because of large increases for DOD weapons and NASA spacecraft development, including
new requests for $1.4 billion in 2007 and $2.8 billion in 2008 for DOD development
as part of the Bush Administration’s war supplementals
(see Figure 2). -
Total federal support of research (basic and applied) would fall 2.0 percent
to $55.4 billion, even after large proposed increases for physical sciences and
related research in NSF, DOE’s Office of Science, and
NIST (see Table 2 and Figure 2). A rare cut in
NIH research funding and steep cuts in research funding at DOD, NASA, USDA, and
other agencies would more than offset the ACI gains. In real terms, the federal
research portfolio would fall for the fourth year in a row, down 7.4 percent from
2004. - President
Bush’s American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) would once again be the big winner
among domestic programs. Just last week, the three ACI agencies won large
increases in 2007 as part of the joint funding resolution; now, the President
proposes to boost ACI funding even higher in 2008. NSF R&D would increase
8.3 percent over the likely 2007 funding level to $4.9 billion within a total
budget of $6.4 billion (up 8.7 percent). DOE’s Office
of Science would get a 16 percent increase in its R&D funding to $4.1 billion
in 2008 over the 2007 funding resolution level. And R&D performed in the NIST
laboratories would increase 21.5 percent to $421 million. But although the ACI
aims to boost federal investments in physical sciences research, the two other
major sponsors of the physical sciences would face cuts in their research support:
DOD support of basic and applied research would fall 18 percent to $5.9 billion,
while NASA research would slide 0.5 percent to $3.4 billion (see Table
2). - The
National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget would fall in 2008 compared to the
likely 2007 funding level. Last week, NIH received a surprise $600 million
boost in the 2007 funding resolution above what it had been expecting all year,
but the additional 2007 money means the $28.8 billion NIH request for 2008 would
be a cut instead of an increase. NIH R&D would fall $325 million or 1.1 percent.
- NASA R&D
would continue to climb to fund the development of new human spacecraft to replace
the Space Shuttle. NASA R&D would climb 7.7 percent to $12.6 billion,
but the entire increase would go to two big projects: finishing the International
Space Station and developing the Crew Launch Vehicle and Crew Exploration Vehicle
combination. As a result, NASA support of research in the physical sciences, environmental
sciences, aeronautics, and other disciplines would fall once again. -
Nondefense R&D agencies not linked to
the ACI or space would their R&D funding decline within a tight domestic
budget (see Figure 1). Even R&D in Administration priorities such as energy
R&D (down 9.2 percent to $1.3 billion, primarily because of last-minute infusions
of 2007 funds in the joint funding resolution) and DHS R&D (down 1.5 percent
to $933 million within an expanding DHS budget) would fall in 2008. Commerce’s
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would see its R&D funding
decline 9.5 percent from a newly boosted 2007 funding level down to $544 million
despite an increase for oceans research.  Figure
2. (click on the image for PDF) -
Nondefense R&D would increase 2.2 percent to $59.9 billion, far better than
the flat funding requested for all nondefense discretionary
programs and just short of the 2.4 percent expected inflation rate (see Table
1). Boosts for the ACI and space vehicles development help to offset requested
cuts in other nondefense R&D programs, but even
increases in these areas are not enough to keep the nondefense portfolio from falling behind inflation for the
fourth year in a row. -
Defense R&D continues to climb to record levels in wartime, boosted by additional
billions for development on top of regular funding in both 2007 and 2008 as part
of war-related supplemental requests. Total defense R&D would reach $83.0
billion in 2008 (including $2.8 billion in a war supplemental), up 0.9 percent
over an FY 2007 total that also includes supplemental funding that was just requested
but not yet appropriated for the current year. Department of Defense (DOD) weapons
systems development would increase dramatically by $3.5 billion or 5.5 percent
to a new high of $68.1 billion (see Figure 1), but once again there would be steep
cuts in DOD’s S&T (DOD “6.1” through “6.3” plus medical research) programs.
DOD S&T would plummet 20.3 percent down to $10.9 billion, with cuts in all
three categories of basic research, applied research, and technology development.
- The Administration
priorities of defense development, space exploration, and basic physical sciences
research show up clearly in the federal R&D portfolio by mission (see
Table 3). The priority missions would all receive
large increases, while R&D for other national missions would fall sharply.
Space-related R&D would gain 11.4 percent to $12.0 billion, entirely from
gains in development funding of new space vehicles instead of the broader space
R&D portfolio. Proposed ACI boosts to the DOE Office of Science and NSF make
up the 11.6 percent gain for general science R&D to $8.9 billion, while the
NIST labs’ increase would boost commerce R&D by 11.0 percent. But R&D
for other national missions including agriculture (down 12 percent), transportation
(down 19 percent), energy (down 8 percent) and the environment (down 5 percent)
would all fall in a tight budget. Even health R&D, usually on the positive
side, would fall 1.0 percent down to $30.1 billion because of cuts at NIH. Justice
R&D in the DHS would climb 14 percent but after a steep cut in 2007, leaving
2008 funding well below 2006. -
Federal homeland security-related R&D would total $4.8 billion in
FY 2008, a gain of $205 million or 4.4 percent after a dramatic slide in 2007
due mainly to steep cuts in the DHS R&D portfolio (see Table
4). The majority of the multi-agency portfolio remains outside the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS), with the largest part in the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) for its biodefense research portfolio.
NIH’s portfolio, mostly in the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), would total $1.8 billion in FY 2008 (down 0.7
percent). DHS R&D would continue to decline, while increases would go to food
safety research in USDA, basic research on terrorism-related topics at NSF, and
decontamination and drinking water protection projects at EPA. -
President Bush’s FY 2008 budget now goes to a newly Democratic-majority Congress,
where the R&D requests will go through a newly reorganized appropriations
process. Democratic appropriators have reorganized appropriations jurisdictions
into 11 bills, 10 of which fund some R&D (see Table
5). As in the past, 95 percent of the federal R&D portfolio will be appropriated
through 4 appropriations bills. - Despite increasing attention to climate change and possible policy measures
to address it, federal spending on climate change science is falling (see Table
6). Climate Change Science Program (CCSP)
funding would decline 7.4 percent to $1.5 billion in 2008, falling steeply for
the fourth year in a row from nearly $2 billion in 2004. Although climate change
funding in most participating agencies remains stable, steep cuts in recent years
to NASA research (the largest sponsor of climate change of science) have resulted
in a diminishing overall federal effort. Among other multi-agency R&D initiatives,
funding for the Networking
and Information Technology R&D initiative would level off at $3.1 billion.
The National Nanotechnology Initiative would benefit from ACI increases for leading
members NSF and DOE Office of Science to reach $1.4 billion (up 4.0 percent).
The FY 2008 R&D Budget in Historical Context: Another Year of Decline Although
high-priority investments in weapons development, human space exploration, and
physical sciences research help to keep the federal R&D outlook brighter than
the bleak outlook for domestic programs overall, the FY 2008 budget continues
the recent trends of declining federal support for research amid increasing support
for weapons systems development. The
federal investment in basic and applied research would fall for the fourth year
in a row in real terms (see Figure 3) if the FY 2008 budget is enacted. Federal
research did very well between 1998 and 2003 because of the campaign to double
the budget of NIH, the largest federal supporter of research. Other agencies also
increased their research investments in that time period because a string of budget
surpluses freed up resources for domestic appropriations. But with the return
of budget deficits in 2002 followed by restraints on domestic spending thereafter,
growth in research funding for NIH and other domestic agencies slowed in 2004
and then reversed. At the same time, DOD research support lagged as the Pentagon
went to war in 2003 and shifted resources away from research toward near-term
projects, and NASA research fell even within a stable R&D budget as it shifted
resources from research first to returning the Space Shuttle to flight and then
toward developing the Shuttle’s replacement. As a result, federal support for
research in nearly all disciplines is now in decline, a decline that would accelerate
in the 2008 budget, even in the physical sciences where ACI gains would be more
than offset by NASA and DOD cuts. The 2008 budget would leave the federal research
portfolio 7.4 percent below the 2004 level in inflation-adjusted dollars. 
Figure 3. (click on the image for
PDF) Federal
research investments are shrinking as a share of the U.S. economy, just as other
nations are increasing their investments. As shown in Figure 4, the federal
R&D investment exceeded 1 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) until
recently, buoyed by big increases in weapons development, but is now declining
sharply. Federal investments in development, mostly in DOD, have held steady as
a share of the economy, but the federal research/GDP ratio is in free fall down
to a projected 0.38 percent in 2008, below the long-term historical average of
0.4 percent after gains in the late 1990s. Despite an increasingly technology-based
economy and a growing recognition among policymakers that federal research investments
are the seed corn for future technology-based innovations, the U.S. government research investment has failed to match
the new realities and has also failed to match the competition. Asian nations
are dramatically increasing their government research investments: both China and South Korea, for example, are boosting government research
by 10 percent or more annually.
Figure
4. (click on image for PDF) Highlights of the Major R&D Funding Agencies (Complete
coverage of the major R&D funding agencies will be available in the forthcoming
AAAS Report XXXII: R&D FY 2008 and
on the AAAS R&D web site in agency updates. All figures in this analysis are
preliminary, and will be revised in later releases. The FY 2007 estimates for
most agencies have been adjusted to reflect the latest AAAS estimates of R&D
in the pending 2007 joint funding resolution, and therefore differ from figures
presented in the President’s budget.) -
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget
would fall $329 million or 1.1 percent to $28.8 billion from the likely 2007 funding
level, but the cut becomes $529 million after adjusting for an additional transfer
out of the agency. NIH R&D would also fall also 1.1 percent to $28.1 billion
(see Table 1). Most NIH institutes and centers (ICs)
would see their budgets remain flat for the fourth year in a row, with no allowance
for inflation, but in 2007 ICs would be freed of their obligation to transfer
1.2 percent of their budgets to the NIH-wide Roadmap for Medical Research so they
would have a small 2007 increase. But in the 2008 budget they would once again
transfer 1.3 percent of their budgets to the Roadmap, resulting in a 1.3 percent
cut for most. The Office of the Director (OD) budget balloons to $1.1 billion
in 2007 under the 2007 funding resolution to centralize Roadmap funding, but would
fall to $517 million in 2008. The overall Roadmap would total $486 million, up
slightly from likely 2007 funding. After adjusting for economy-wide inflation,
the 2008 NIH budget would be 7.6 percent below the 2004 peak (see Figure 5), but
based on NIH’s own calculation of biomedical research inflation the
loss would be 12 percent. Because of an unusually large number of existing grants
ending, NIH expects to offer more than 10,000 new research grants in 2008 for
the first time since 2004, but at the cost of canceling inflationary adjustments
for existing research grants and cutting other programs such as intramural research
and training funds. -
The National Science Foundation (NSF) benefits from the Administration’s American Competitiveness Initiative with
an 8.7 percent boost in its total budget to $6.4 billion in 2008, after a similar
boost in 2007 as part of the joint funding resolution. Most research directorates
would receive increases between 4 percent and 9 percent for the second year in
a row after two years of decline before then. In real terms, funding for the Geosciences
and Biological Sciences directorates would remain below 2004 funding levels even
after the 2007 and 2008 increases, while the computer sciences, social sciences,
mathematics and physical sciences, polar, and engineering directorates would all
reach new highs. NSF’s R&D investments would total $4.9 billion, an 8.3 percent
increase that would be an all-time high (see Figure 5). - The Department of Defense (DOD) R&D investment continues to grow, with a proposed increase of $765 million to
$79.0 billion. DOD weapons development would increase dramatically by 5.5
percent or $3.5 billion to an all-time high of $68.1 billion, including $2.8 billion
in development funds requested as part of a 2008 war supplemental. The Air Force
would get the bulk of the new money, an additional $3.5 billion for an R&D
budget of $28.1 billion in 2008 for projects such as the Joint Strike Fighter
(JSF). But as in past years, the big proposed increases for development are matched
by steep cuts to DOD’s future-oriented investments: “Science and Technology” (S&T),
which includes research, medical research, and technology development, would fall
20.3 percent to $10.9 billion, erasing seven years of gains (see Table 1 and Figure
5). Within S&T, basic research (“6.1”) funding would fall 8.7 percent, while
applied research (“6.2”) would fall 18 percent, mostly but not entirely due to
the proposed elimination of earmarks. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) would do relatively well among research-oriented programs with a request
of $3.1 billion, holding steady with this year’s budget. The fledgling National
Defense Education Program would more than double from $19 million to $44 million
next year. 
Figure
5. (click on PDF) - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
suffers a setback in 2007 but looks to rebound
with a $1.0 billion requested increase in 2008 over the likely 2007 final appropriation.
The $17.3 billion 2008 request would be a 6.5 percent increase, of which $12.6
billion would go for R&D activities (up 7.7 percent; see Table 1). The
Constellation Systems program to develop the new Crew Exploration Vehicle and
the Crew Launch Vehicle would increase 24 percent from the likely 2007 funding
level to $3.1 billion to eat up most of the R&D increase. Construction of
the International Space Station, now in full gear with the return of the Space
Shuttle to flight, would require $2.2 billion next year, up $455 million from
this year. Increases for these two big-ticket programs would leave NASA’s research-oriented
programs in decline. Although NASA would protect the Science program of earth-sun
science, earth observing, astronomy, and robotic missions from cuts (up 5 percent
to $5.5 billion), aeronautics research would plummet 38 percent down to $554
million and the remnants of the life and physical sciences effort would tumble
33 percent to $183 million. Because NASA R&D funding has remained constant
in real terms for more than a decade (see Figure 5), big increases in development
funding to fulfill the Vision for Space Exploration of returning humans to the
moon before going to Mars have cut into NASA’s traditional research programs in
recent years. -
The Department of Energy (DOE) R&D portfolio
would climb 5.5 percent to $9.2 billion because of continuing Administration support
for DOE’s Office of Science (OS) as part of the American Competitiveness
Initiative (ACI). DOE Science would once again be the clear winner in the budget
with a 15.8 percent proposed increase to $4.1 billion over the likely 2007 final
budget for its R&D portfolio centered around the physical sciences (see Figure 1). OS programs should
all receive substantial increases for the second year to hit historic highs (see
Figure 5). Fusion research would total $428 million, up a third, as the U.S.
boosts its contribution to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor
(ITER) project from $60 million to $160 million next year. Basic Energy Sciences
(BES) would dominate the OS portfolio with $1.5 billion, up from $1.1 billion
as recently as last year, to operate the new Spallation
Neutron Source (SNS) and to boost its support of basic research at other national
laboratories. DOE’s energy R&D would total $1.3
billion, a cut from 2007 because of a surprise last-minute infusion of hundreds
of millions of dollars in the 2007 funding resolution. DOE R&D investments
in renewables such as hydrogen, biomass, and solar energy
would be up dramatically from two years ago. But DOE once again proposes to eliminate
R&D on gas and oil technologies and some renewable energy technologies, and
proposes to cancel $50 million in mandatory funding for a deepwater oil and gas
exploration R&D program. -
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) R&D
portfolio fell sharply in 2007 because of rising congressional dissatisfaction
with the new department’s R&D efforts, and would edge down another 1.5 percent
to $933 million in 2008, even as overall DHS spending would increase. While research
on radiological and countermeasures would continue to climb (up 19 percent to
$257 million) in the newly separate Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO),
R&D in the main Science and Technology Directorate would fall steeply for
the second year. University Programs funding would fall again down to $39 million,
down a third in two years. -
R&D in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would
fall 10.8 percent from the likely 2007 final appropriation to $2.0 billion, mostly
from proposed cuts in intramural research (see Figure 5). On the extramural side,
the National Research Initiative (NRI) of competitively awarded research grants
would increase $66 million to a record $257 million, although similar proposed
increases in past years have not made it through Congress. Hatch Act funding falls
from an unexpectedly large $323 million 2007 appropriation down below historical
levels to $164 million; although funding is traditionally distributed by formula,
a quarter of the 2008 funds could be awarded competitively. -
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories in the
Department of Commerce would benefit from the ACI. NIST intramural research
would climb 21.5 percent to $421 million, while construction funding for NIST
research facilities would jump 60 percent to $94 million. The Bush Administration
once again proposes to eliminate NIST’s extramural Advanced
Technology Program (ATP). The ATP had a budget of $79 million in FY 2006 and is
likely to have the same amount in 2007. In another repeat of previous requests,
the budget would cut the non-R&D Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership
by 56 percent down to $46 million. Total NIST R&D would increase 11 percent
to $515 million. Also in Commerce, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) R&D would fall by 9.5 percent
to $544 million, despite requested increases for selected ocean research programs.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would
maintain a flat R&D budget of $822 million in FY 2008, but planned funding
from other sources would bring total VA-performed R&D to $1.8 billion. -
R&D in the Department of the Interior would fall
2.4 percent to $621 million, with a similar 3.4 percent cut to $547 million for
R&D in Interior’s lead science agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The cuts would,
as in previous requests, be concentrated in USGS’ mineral resources and water
resources R&D, with modest increases or flat funding for other R&D priorities. -
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) R&D
portfolio of $547 million would be a 3.5 percent cut from the likely 2007 funding
level, with cuts to most research areas partially offset by increases for homeland
security-related research. - Department of Transportation (DOT)
R&D funding would increase 2.0 percent to $812 million because of requested
cuts in aviation R&D combined with increases for highway R&D. Budget
Context and Outlook For
the first time, this budget from President Bush goes to a Democratic Congress.
As members of Congress who are still adjusting to new roles in the majority or
minority gear up for budget hearings in the coming weeks, they first have to finalize
FY 2007 appropriations left unfinished by the previous Congress. Then, they are
likely to turn their attention to the record-breaking $716 billion request for
the military, which includes a sizeable $93 billion for the current 2007 fiscal
year. Only then are they likely to turn to the 2008 budget. The Democratic majority
has already signaled that the President’s request for domestic appropriations,
which amount to flat funding after taking out homeland security money, is inadequate.
In the upcoming debate on the 2008 budget resolution, the congressional response
to the President’s budget, Congress is expected to try to add money to overall
domestic appropriations so that the Appropriations Committees can add money to
individual programs later in the year. Based on their actions in the 2007 funding
resolution, which added money to the ACI agencies, NIH, and other R&D programs,
Democratic appropriators appear poised to support the ACI increases in 2008 and
to add money if available to other R&D programs. If so, the funding outlook
for federal R&D will improve as the year goes on. But unless Congress makes
dramatic changes in the current trend of flat to declining domestic spending,
the downward slide in federal support of research is unlikely to reverse, even
if a select few programs buck the trend with increases. -
February 7, 2007
(More materials on R&D in the
FY 2008 budget, historical data and charts, and more information on AAAS Report
XXXII: Research and Development FY 2008, can be found on the AAAS R&D
Web site at www.aaas.org/spp/rd. The
information in this preliminary analysis will be continually updated with revised
agency data, and revisions.) AAAS R&D Budget and Policy
Program
1200 New York Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 326-6607
science_policy@aaas.org
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd
Go to Tables 1-6
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