On February 10, 2020, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the Trump administration's proposed budget for the U.S. Government in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. Under the budget proposal, total funding for the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) would be reduced by $2.5 billion or 16 percent, compared to FY2020 levels.
The budget proposal states that funding will be “maintain[ed] . . . for scientific research and data collection by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to inform responsible energy and mineral development and minimize the environmental impacts of these activities." However, DOI's budget analysis shows that total funding for USGS would be cut by $300 million or 23.6 percent (compared to FY2020 levels). According to the analysis, this would necessitate "structure changes" within USGS, including the combining of research projects.